Affiliation:
1. Screen Media and Entertainment, Swinburne University of Technology
Abstract
Abstract
This chapter examines the superhero film’s relationship with the larger science fiction (sf) genre. While looking at some early overlaps of both types, the main focus is on examples drawn from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and especially Iron Man (2008). Iron Man (like its comic book predecessors) presents itself firmly within the parameters of the superhero narrative, but it does so by absorbing sf into its superhero structure. The chapter thus views Iron Man as an example of sf that aligns with what Istvan Csicsery-Ronay calls the “seven beauties” of sf; however, the chapter argues that Iron Man applies a superhero logic to this schema, resulting in an adjustment that we might term “the seven beauties of superhero-sf.”
Reference20 articles.
1. Attebery, Brian. “The Magazine Era: 1926–1960.” In The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, 32–47. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
2. Review: Superheroes and Science Fiction: Who Watches Comic Books?;Science Fiction Studies,2004
3. Darowski, Joseph J. “Introduction.” In The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times, edited by Joseph J. Darowski, 1–4. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015.