Superhero Movies Are Socialist
Nothing screams socialism more than a guy in some red tights beating up Nazis
Superhero movies rule the silver screen and the idiot box. From Netflix to AMC Theaters and back again, the American public cannot get enough of superheroes. Unlike man however, not every superhero movie is created equal. The ideologies of many of them run from the center-right to retrograde, revanchist proto-fascist power fantasies. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t socialist lessons to be learned from them. Here are a few examples of some superhero movies, that with a few twists, could become leftist. Is this a bit? Not sure? Am I trolling? Who cares?
1. Avengers: Infinity War/Avengers: Endgame
Simply put, these movies are about the necessary fight against eco-fascism. While a Marvel movie event doesn’t seem like it would be the place for such polemics, these two movies exist. Two of the highest grossing films of all time Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame put to rest the idea that eco-fascism is the only way to save the world. Thanos, the main villain of the movie, destroys half the universe’s population, declaring that it is the only way to save the universe from its own destruction. Earth’s, and space’s mightiest heroes have something to say about that. Mark Ruffalo, playing fan-favorite The Hulk, is a literal green hero, and saves the day, time and again, a not-that-subtle nod to the Green New Deal and other earth-saving efforts. Thanos himself is a warning against giving one person too much power, the fact that everyone comes together to defeat him just goes to show the when people come together, they can change the world. And let’s not forget that wonderful scene of a bunch of strong powerful women teaming up together to beat the bad guys. Beautiful.
2. The Boys
Officially, Dang Dude, cannot recommend that you pirate The Boys. However, as it’s an Amazon show, we also cannot recommend that you pay for Amazon Prime to watch it. So, do with that information as you will. What we can do, is whole-heartedly call The Boys the best deconstruction of the superhero genre. As an added bonus? It’s anti-capitalist to its core. Similar to Mystery Men, The Boys takes place in a world where being a superhero has become commodified. The evil Vought Corporation controls essentially all US foreign and domestic policy, both in public and private. The titular boys, five people whose lives have been destroyed time and again by superheroes work to take down Vought by whatever means they can. While it’s certainly not for kids The Boys is a blistering satire of centrist liberalism, the War on Terror, and corporate greed, The Boys is as sharp as it is politically sharp as it is fun to watch.
3. The Black Panther
Socialism in one country or permanent revolution has been a question that socialists have asked themselves for decades. Rarely has this question been addressed in American cinema. Until Marvel’s Black Panther. The best of the Marvelverse movies, this has it all: a tour-de-force performance from the late Chadwick Boseman, fantastic displays of intersectional politics, and a complex critique of both Leninist and Stalinist ideologies. T’Challa, the titular Black Panther and leader of the fictional Wakanda – a socialist paradise – faces off against Killmonger, played to the hilt by Michael B. Jordan. T’Challa is clearly in favor of a socialism in one country approach, while Killmonger promotes an aggressive approach to permanent revolution. While T’Challa is in the end victorious Killmonger’s theories are not dismissed entirely and T’Challa decides to bring Wakanda to the rest of the world. The filmmakers never get bogged down in ideological debates, peppering in several very well-done action scenes to get the blood pumping. A must-see.
4. Mystery Men
A superhero movie before superhero movies were a thing. A cult hit, starring a murderer’s rows of guys, including William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Paul Reubens, Janeane Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush, and Tom Waits, this movie slaps. As for its socialist cred? Just take a look at one of the last lines spoken in the movie, “Excuse me...Could I say something? I think we would all like this victory to go out to...all the other guys. And I'm talking 'bout the people in this city who are super good at their jobs but never get any credit. Like the lady in the D.M.V. That's a rough job.” Delivered by William H. Macy, who plays The Shoveler, a working-class superhero, shows Mystery Men’s socialist bona fides. Ending the film with a pean to the working-class? Wonderful. A few lines at the end isn’t the only lefty lewks this film serves either. Captain Amazing, Mystery Men’s Batman stand-in, is a corporate shill, concerned only with the bottom line. Putting his corporate sponsor’s bottom line, before the safety of his city. And his ass gets psychodefragulated. For real. Also Eddie Izzard plays a disco-themed villain. What’s not to love?
5. Watchmen (TV Show)
Alan Moore is a dyed in the wool anarchist who isn’t afraid to put his politics into his art. When making a follow-up to the film adaptation of Moore’s most work Damon Lindelof didn’t shy away from those politics. He embraced them. In this dark and gritty imagining of a post-alien contact world, Lindelof and team deal with America’s violent past, present, and future. They show the corruption, racism, and banal evil of Police Departments around the country, creating an effective argument for police defunding in the process. Adrian Veidt an obscenely rich man and the shows villain gets his comeuppance in the series finale. Watchmen also shows a world where Communist Russia still exists and is on par with The United States, for that alone it should be praised. A wonderful, and thought-provoking piece of art.
6. Captain America: Winter Soldier
Captain America: Winter Soldier is Marvel’s version of a seventy’s political thriller. And it delivers on that promise and more. While it holds up as a film, it also espouses lefty politics. It paints a world where world leaders are in thrall to an arch-capitalist organization, called in this case HYDRA. When HYDRA goes public it, and its band of world business leaders, bankers, and other titans of corrupt industry, attempt to destroy any and all people who stand in its way. This movie tells a story of the surveillance state run amok, the limits of individual action, and the corruption of capitalist leaders. Captain America comes to realize, as every socialist should, that he cannot do it alone, and must rely on those around him, the people, to truly change the world for good. As if that wasn’t enough, Captain America gets to punch more than a few Nazis, and in doing so turns in to the ANTIFA hero that we all need. Truly a movie for current times.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1
Unlike all the other movies on this list, this one may not seem like it fits the criteria for socialist. It takes place in space, stars a talking raccoon, a blue lady, and something called a Groot. What is socialist about that. All your favorite Posadists are screaming at you. Socialism isn’t just about being serious and discussing the benefits of Marx and Gramsci. It’s also about thinking about what the future could hold, and being open to the possibilities of alien life. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 provides a playbook for that. Showing a universe where five different species can get along, and help save the world in the process does a lot for the socialist project. On top of that the big showdown at the end has not one but two big scenes where thee good guys work together to make themselves stronger and fight back against evil. A lesson socialists need to take to heart, time and again. And it has a banging soundtrack. A reminder that we can have bread AND roses.
8. The Matrix
The film that spawned a thousand imitators. From Shrek to Wanted and everything in between, people love to copy the aesthetic, camera angles, and CGI-innovations of The Matrix. Unfortunately, the themes of The Matrix – the experiences of transgender communities, the evils of capitalism, among others – have not been copied as gleefully. Lily and Lana Wachowski co-created a sci-fi masterpiece that has stood the test of time. The film has recently undergone a critical revival, supported by the Wachowski’s, that highlights its socialist and emancipatory themes. More than just a movie that spawned a million memes, The Matrix offers an inspirational message for those seeking a better and more understandable world.
9. Looper
Looper asks the question that every socialist must ask themselves, “If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you?” A philosophers tract disguised as a sci-fi action thriller starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. As you’d expect from the director of Knives Out, Brick, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson approaches this conundrum about the use of violence, justice, and personal responsibility through a complex socialist lens. There is much here to discuss and much for everyone, even the most well-read Marxist historian, to learn. For fear of giving away too much, I won’t discuss the outcome, but needless to say, it will have any stripe of leftist, from soft social democrat to hardcore anarcho-syndicalist questioning their epistemological platitudes.
10. X2: X-Men United
X2: X-Men United tells a simple story, one as old as time – what do you do when you face the choice between nonviolent and violent resistance? Taking cues from writers, thinkers, and activists like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Bakunin, Gandhi, Lucy Parsons, and others, X2 offers up a wonderful debate on which path offers a brighter future. It will come as no surprise to long-time followers of the X-Men comics that the movie would do justice to themes that continually pop up in the comics. X2 doesn’t just offer up cool mutants, awesome action scenes, and surprisingly heartfelt emotional beats, it also offers up a serious debate about the limits of non-violent resistance, the seduction of violence action, and an in-depth look at the myth of redemptive violence. A movie for all socialists to add to their repertoire.
11. Spider-Man 2
New York City is the hometown to a plethora of socialist luminaries. What better place for Marvel’s most socialist Superhero to call home? Spider-Man 2 follows Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson as they try to juggle work, love, and personal growth in the Big Apple. Oh, and it tells a story of the dangers of burn-out and the necessity of self-care. Plenty of socialists have found themselves trying to do too much too fast and burning out, depriving the movement of valuable people and skills. Spider-Man 2 reminds socialists that sometimes taking a Friday off and going to catch a movie, or hang out with a non-movement friend is really helpful. As Spider-Man 2 shows, when too many people get burned out then the left loses its powers. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. A much-needed reminder in these times of trouble.
12. Robocop (1987)
Robocop came out long before the current superhero craze swept America. We didn’t deserve it. What people expected was a parade of tough cops and even tougher “justice.” What people got was a biting takedown of the excesses of American policing, and a clarion call for police defunding and prison abolition. Paul Verhoeven directed this masterpiece, presaging many of the arguments made today about the need to get rid of police entirely. Depicting the inherent violence and corruption of modern policing, their obsession with arming themselves, and a belief that they are the last say in all matters of justice, Robocop casts a harsh light on policing. Effective in its political stance and as a piece of art Robocop deserves a watch.