Reappearance Of New Gods-An Analysis Of The Mythology Of Superhero Movies

Since its establishment, Hollywood has created a number of classic heroic images. The majority of gods, saints and warriors are engraved in the famous list of Hollywood’s movies. As a young member of Hollywood’s action movies, superhero movies have again ushered a new round of frenzy on a global scale up to now after experiencing a boom and recession from birth to development. From Batman:The Dark Knight redefining the artistic value of superhero movies in 2008 to The Avengers bringing about huge box office earnings and market chain effects in 2012, the scale and influence of superhero movies in the current movie circle are unprecedented. The paper explores how superhero movies which were born in American sub-culture circle, belong to B-movie and include a lot of embedded ideologies achieve such a great success and where their glamour and vitality come from.The paper is divided into two parts including phenomenon and interpretation to analyze the frenzy of superhero movies from multiple aspects and explain the inevitability of the frenzy of superhero movies. The birth of the present myth of the world has experienced the difficult transition of American cartoon industry, the improvement of social status of sub-culture group and the successful combination of sub-culture and mainstream entertainment mode. Behind the explosive effect of the myth are a rigorous business plan and also the product of the mutual collision, promotion and development between sub-culture circle and mainstream culture. The prototypical images in the roles of superhero movies can arouse the common psychological experience and identification of audience in different regions. In the meanwhile, the cultural meanings and the spirits of the times superheroes possess are worthy of being thought about and pondered. Superheroes are not the flat products of mass entertainment. The shadows of heroes in ancient myths can be seen from them. Their heroic journeys enable people to re-experience the spiritual calling of myths and rituals, obtain a spiritual totem, pacify their anxious and confused souls in an illusion and look for a true self.In the first chapter, the author mainly explores the emergence and boom of superhero movies. The paper firstly starts from etymology and traces the birth, application and communication process of the word superhero in Chinese and in English. Secondly, the paper illustrates the general rules in the types of superhero stories, briefly compares the similarities and differences among superhero movies, science fiction movies, fantastic movies, and Japanese special movies and so on, lists some words whose concepts may be confused in different subject areas in the process of discussion and explains all of them. Finally, the paper comprehensively teases the course of interaction and mutual development of superhero comics and movies at different times and focuses on sorting out the new characteristics of a new round of frenzy of superhero movies the movie The Avengers brought about in 2012 reflected in discovering its coverage and the reaction of the Chinese market.In the second chapter, the author mainly conducts an analysis on mythology, aesthetics and ethics of two groups of roles in the texts of superhero movies, namely Iron Man and Captain America, Thor and Loki, discusses the myth prototypes and narrative structures in superhero movies within the framework of series movies, analyzes the aesthetic connotations of the roles and their cultural value endowed for the requirements of times, and expounds that superhero movies provide people with a spiritual totem for worship and a myth of the world which meeting the human needs of the post-human era. Apart from their substantial commercial value and entertainment value, the recognition gained by superheroes on a global scale is closely connected with the prototypes they contain and the extended cultural connotations.In the third chapter, the author analyzes the roles of superheroes and the identities of actors which are confused deliberately and the frenzy of superhero movies as an artificial myth of consumption, reveals the process and essence of creating a myth for superhero movies through advertising and marketing and uncovers the myth of consumption behind the frenzy of superhero movies.In the fourth chapter, the author analyzes the root cause of the change of cultural status of superhero culture from vulgarness to mainstream and the characteristics of superhero movies in the process of propagation in China with the help of sub-culture circle, namely the expansion of the position of superhero culture, the improvement of social status of superhero audience whose consumption needs receive attention and the role the development of domestic sub-culture circle plays in promoting the propagation of superhero movies. In addition, the paper expounds that the frenzy of the myth is the product of the collision between mainstream and sub-culture and also the victory won by mutual fusion and promotion.