Abstract
This chapter examines themes of sustainability in three “superhero” films: Iron Man 2 , The Avengers , and Batman: The Dark Knight Rises . The origins and defining characteristics of superhero films are provided while recognizing the superhero form as a subset of the “action blockbuster.” The three films are analyzed in concert for themes relating to Rutherford’s concept of technopia , recognizing that these texts are less focused on defining environmental problems as much as they emphasize finding the right “solutions .”
References
Arroyo, José (ed.). 2000. Action/Spectacle Cinema: A Sight and Sound Reader. London: British Film Institute.
Beaty, Bart, and Stephen Weiner. 2012. Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Heroes and Superheroes, 1st ed. Ipswich, MA: Salem Press.
Business Wire. 2012. Marvel’s the Avengers’ to Cross $1 Billion Globally in 19 Days. Business Wire, May 13.
Coogan, Peter. 2012. Reconstructing the Superhero in All-Star Superman. In Critical Approaches to Comics Theories and Methods, ed. Matthew J. Smith, and Randy Duncan, 203–220. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Dickinson, Tim. 2016. The Koch Brothers’ Dirty War on Solar Power. Rolling Stone, February 11.
Dodds, Eric. 2014. How Superhero Movies are Saving Hollywood. Time Magazine, April 29.
Egan, Matt. 2015. Still missing: female business leaders. Cable News Network‚ March 24. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/24/investing/female-ceo-pipeline-leadership2.
Forbes. 2011. Forbes Magazine. A Look at Marvel's Box Office History.
Gross, Larry. 2000. Big and Loud. In Action/spectacle Cinema, ed. Jose Arroyo, 3–8. London, UK: British Film Institute.
Harriss, Robert, and Bin Shui. 2010. Consumption, Not CO 2 Emissions: Reframing Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 52 (6): 8–15. doi:10.1080/00139157.2010.522461.
Hughes, Mark. 2012. The Dark Knight Rises Tops $1 Billion. Forbes, September 5.
Hughes, Mark. 2013. Why Marvel is Defining the Modern Superhero Genre. Forbes, October 29.
Ingram, David. 2004. Green Screen: Environmentalism and Hollywood Cinema. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press.
Kasulis, Thomas P. 2004. Shinto: The Way Home. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Klein, Naomi. 2015. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate. New York: Simon & Schuster.
La Touche, Jason. 2014. Everything Old is New again: Figuring Out Who the Enemy is in the 1980s. In The Ages of the Avengers: Essays on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Changing Times, ed. Joseph Darowski, 79–91. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Lang, Brent. 2015. ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Passes ‘the Avengers’ at the Box Office. Variety, December 31.
Langford, Barry. 2005. Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Levitz, Paul. 2013. Why Supervillains? In What is a Superhero? ed. Robin Rosenberg, and Peter Coogan, 79–81. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mendelson, Scott. 2013. Box Office Catch Up. Forbes, July 25.
Mills, Anthony R. 2014. American Theology, Superhero Comics, and Cinema: The Marvel of Stan Lee and the Revolution of a Genre. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Neale, Stephen. 2000. Genre and Hollywood. New York: Psychology Press.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 2010. Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms the Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Patton, Brian. 2015. “The Iron-Clad American”: Iron Man in the 1960s. In The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times, ed. Joseph Darowski, 5–16. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Purse, Lisa. 2011. Contemporary Action Cinema. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Rosenberg, Robin S., and Peter MacFarland Coogan. 2013. What is a Superhero? New York: Oxford University Press.
Rutherford, Paul. 2000. Endless Propaganda: The Advertising of Public Goods. Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press.
Tasker, Yvonne. 2015. The Hollywood Action and Adventure Film, 1st ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
This, Craig. 2015. "Tony Stark: Disabled Vietnam Veteran?" In The Ages of Iron Man : Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times, edited by Joseph Darowski, 17–28. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2015
Thompson, Bob. 2015. Hollywood Royalty Joins Superhero Genre; Douglas Enters the Marvel Universe as Ant-Man Inventor. Edmonton Journal, July 16.
Truitt, Brian. 2013. Superhero Genre is Short on Girl Power for the Big Screen. USA Today, August 25.
Verano, Frank. 2013. Superheroes Need Supervillains. In What is a Superhero? ed. Robin Rosenberg, and Peter Coogan, 83–87. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wallace, Gregory. 2015. Only 5 black CEOs at 500 biggest companies. Cable News Network, January 29. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/29/news/economy/mcdonalds-ceo-diversity/index.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
E. Moore, E. (2017). “Super” Green: Sustainable Superheroes Tackle the Environment. In: Landscape and the Environment in Hollywood Film. Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56411-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56411-1_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56410-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56411-1
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)