Download or read book The 21st Century Superhero written by Richard J. Gray II and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-09-07 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Superhero films are one of the most enduring genres of cinema, and their popularity is only increasing in the 21st century. These ten critical essays explore the phenomenon through the lenses of numerous academic disciplines, and cover topics such as the role of globalization in the formation of superhero narratives, the shifting nature of masculinity and femininity in the superhero world and the state of the genre today. Of particular interest is the way these narratives, however fantastic, abstract, futuristic or simplistic, resonate with specific events in the world and function as starting points for discussion of contemporary sociopolitical conflicts.