Why Can Movie Superheroes Save The World?
James Bond saves the world sometimes. So does Captain Kirk. But at least in the movies, superheroes don’t – they’re too busy fighting personal spats. Here’s why superheroes on the big screen should save the damn world now and then. High stakes are a crucial part of why we root for a hero. We don’t just want the hero to win because we like him or her, but because really bad shit will happen if s/he loses. And high stakes are also a crucial ingredient of the all-important “fuck yeah” moment. The higher the stakes, the greater the triumph when the hero comes through. But also, there’s another reason why higher stakes are often better for a heroic narrative: they make the world seem bigger. The more that’s at stake, the more we believe that this hero belongs to a whole world full of real stuff. It’s part of world-building, in fact — to convince us that the whole world is at stake, a movie has to show us that world, at least to some extent. Conversely, the lower the stakes, the more claustr
