ABSTRACT
The Marvel and DC universes constitute the two largest and arguably longest-running examples of world building in any media. They are the products of thousands of comics, artists, and writers over seventy-and sixty-year periods, respectively, and home to dozens of the world’s most recognized brands, including Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the XMen. Superheroes are central to any consideration of popular media’s thinking about concepts of heroism and justice because the superhero has spread beyond comics to be taken up by popular culture more generally as the exemplar of justice. The superhero appears in fi lm franchises ranging from comic book adaptations like Daredevil (2003), Ghost Rider (2007), Superman (2006) and the Spider-Man (2002-), X-Men (2000-), and Fantastic Four (2005-) sequels, to genre fi lms like The Matrix (1999), The Incredibles (2004), and (arguably) Harry Potter (2001-), to television series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Alias (2001-2005), Smallville (2001-) and Heroes (2006-). At the time of writing, this trend shows no sign of abating, with Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Batman: the Dark Knight, and The Incredible Hulk all in production or about to be released.
