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Genre/Form: | Criticism, interpretation, etc Electronic books |
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Additional Physical Format: | Print version: McSweeney, Terence, 1974- Avengers assemble! London ; New York : Wallflower Press, [2018] (OCoLC)1013721352 |
Material Type: | Document, Internet resource |
Document Type: | Internet Resource, Computer File |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Terence McSweeney |
ISBN: | 9780231851220 0231851227 |
OCLC Number: | 1041499521 |
Description: | 1 online resource (vii, 310 pages) : illustrations |
Contents: | 1. 'That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it ... and it's worked out pretty well so far' : The Stark doctrine in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 -- 2. Allegorical narratives of gods and monsters : Thor and The Incredible Hulk -- 3. State fantasy and the superhero : (Mis)remembering World War II in Captain America : The First Avenger -- 4. 'Seeing ... still working on believing!' : The ethics and aesthetics of destruction in The Avengers -- 5. 'Nothing's been the same since New York' : Ideological continuity and change in Iron Man 3 and Thor : The Dark World -- 6. 'The world has changed and none of us can go back' : The illusory moral ambiguities of the Post-9/11 superhero in Captain America : The Winter Soldier -- 7. Blurring the boundaries of genre and gender in Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man -- 8. 'Isn't that why we fight? So we can end the fight and go home?' : The enduring American monomyth in Avengers : Age of Ultron -- 9. 'What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for?' : The MCU on the small screen in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel's Agent Carter -- 10. The necessary vigilantism of the defenders : Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. |
Responsibility: | Terence McSweeney. |
Abstract:
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
This is a timely and entertaining volume that will prove very useful in the development of genre courses in the next few years as the superhero genre finds its place in taught modules across film and media programmes. The work is scholarly and well referenced in ways that open it to further reading and research, but accessible to undergraduate readers. The author takes an epistemically specific approach that is not inappropriate given the avowed focus on the MCU specifically, rather than the superhero genre on the whole or its historical roots. As such, the range of contemporary readings on terrorism, conflict, and the power structures of the twenty first century (mainly American) is again both timely and informative. Intellectually, the breaking of the MCU into its industrially determined 'phases' again focuses the chronology but also opens new arenas of interrogation. The 'phase two' section demonstrates the degree to which the frames of reference change between 2008 and 2013, freeing the franchise (and scholarly debate) from some of the immediate trauma narrative tropes of the first phase, and allowing the discussion to delve into some of the more liminal spaces of the MCU, such as in Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy on gender and fantasy. The final section on the recent television incarnations of the franchise is useful without delving too deeply into the political economy of transmedia in the Netflix age (which is another topic entirely) -- Harvey O'Brien, University College. Dublin A magnificent book. As insightful and comprehensive as it is engaging and timely, this full-length examination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a rewarding read for passionate superhero fans as well as researchers in the fields of film studies, political science, and cultural studies. -- Marc DiPaolo, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, author of <i>War, Politics, and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film</i> Read more...

