By: Joni Boyd
What’s one thing all superheroes have in common?
Key points
- Max says there is “always a glimpse of Jesus in superhero movies” which feature rescue, sacrifice and a need for “transcendent help from beyond.”
- “It’s important to know that these are metaphors at best and metaphors are not real… but metaphors always point to something real,” Max said.
There are trace elements of Jesus uniting all superheroes across movies, TV and comic books, says Max Jeganathan from the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX).
“I think there’s always a glimpse of Jesus, in superhero movies,” Max said in a recent interview.
“There’s rescue, there’s some element of sacrifice, there’s some element of transcendent help from beyond.”
Max explains that all expressions of culture – including movies and superhero narratives – tell us something about ourselves.
“I think with superhero narratives it’s just a bit more explicit than other things,” he said. “We have the struggle between good and evil, we have suffering, we have the undeniable need for rescue from outside of ourselves.
“That just points to these deep longings in every human heart, regardless of our beliefs, for some kind of rescue from beyond.”
And when you think about it, the message of the Gospel does correlate with these themes.
But what about movies like Wolverine and Deadpool? Will we glimpse Jesus, even here?
“Obviously that will differ from superhero to superhero and movie to movie,” he said.“[But] I think those movies will say something about who we all are that will point to Jesus, and that will have very clear strands of resonance with the Christian message.”
Even different universes lean into topics like sacrifice differently.
“There’s always something there to get us thinking if we’re honest with ourselves, and if we come to it with an open heart and an open mind,” Max said.
But isn’t that dangerous? What if we start thinking of Jesus as a superhero?
“That would not be incorrect but that would necessarily be incomplete,” he said.
“It’s important to know that these are metaphors at best and metaphors are not real… but metaphors always point to something real.
“If we are willing to actually open the Bible, start a conversation with someone, enter into prayer, investigate in real life, who this Jesus can be to me, these are all the things that distinguish the invitation of the Christian message and of Jesus from our superhero narratives and any kind of entertainment that we have.”
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
Feature image: Photo by Marjan Blan on Unsplash
About the Author: Joni Boyd is a writer, based in the Hawkesbury Region of NSW. She is passionate about the power of stories shared, to transform lives.