Superheroes, Movies, and the State: How the U.S. Government Shapes Cinematic Universes

"Despite continued warnings of "superhero fatigue," Marvel and DC's current cinematic universes (the MCU and DCEU) have dominated the last two decades of popular culture and continue to obliterate box-office records.

Where other scholars have focused solely on superhero films' global popularity, reflections of American imperialism, cultural legacy, or treatment of minority groups, Jenkins and Secker examine these films' production-side relationships with the American Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEEX), and other government agencies that have aided (or withdrawn from) their creation and promotion.

This government-entertainment complex, they argue, uses superhero films as non-traditional propaganda: the state does not directly generate or force the creation of these movies, but instead leverages its unique resources to encourage positive images and messaging.

Positive portrayals of the state d