Superhero films are big business. Avengers: Age of Ultron recently passed US$1 billion in box office sales. The first Avengers film is currently third in all-time box office rankings.

The popularity and success of Batman, Ironman and the Avengers have contributed to a revival of the American superhero on the big screen.

And though the latest films may seem like modern superhero narratives, the themes that make them relevant today stretch back to the 1930s and 40s, and the environment that gave rise to the first superheroes: the great depression, an undercurrent of fascism in America, and the looming Second World War.

Dallas Rogers speaks with Jason Dittmer on the continued relevance of superheroes in both popular and political culture, and the influence of fascism and geopolitical forces on the superhero narrative.

Jason Dittmer is the author of Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero: Metaphors, Narratives, and Geopolitics.

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Music: Free Music Archive/Podington Bear: Fathomless (CC BY-NC) and Blue Dot Sessions: Modul Kalimba (CC BY-NC)

See also:

After Avengers: Age of Ultron, we really don’t need another hero Up, up and away? The future of the comic book movie

Dallas Rogers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.