Lexington Books / Fortress Academic
Pages: 278
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼
978-1-9787-0615-6 • Hardback • November 2019 • $123.00 • (£95.00)
978-1-9787-0617-0 • Paperback • October 2021 • $44.99 • (£35.00)
978-1-9787-0616-3 • eBook • November 2019 • $42.50 • (£35.00)
Gregory Stevenson is professor of New Testament at Rochester University.
1 What Did It Cost? Sacrifice and Kenosis in The Infinity Saga
Kristen Leigh Mitchell
2 “I Was Never the Hero that You Wanted Me to Be”: The Ethics of Self-Sacrifice and Self-Preservation in Jessica Jones
Taylor J. Ott
3 Mythology, Mimesis, and Apocalypse in Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers
Matthew Brake
4 “Because You Exist”: Biblical Literature and Violence in the X-Men Comic Books
Dan W. Clanton, Jr.
5 The Gospel According to Thanos: Violence, Utopia, and the Case for a Material Theology
Tim Posada
6 “Those Are the Ancestors You Hear”: Marvel’s Luke Cage and Franz Rosenzweig’s Theology of the Creation
Levi Morrow
7 Spider-Man and the Theology of Weakness
Gregory Stevenson
8 Of Venom & Virtue: Venom as Insight into Issues of Identity, the Human Condition, and Virtue
Jeremy E. Scarbrough
9 Matt Murdock’s Ill-fitting Catholic Faith in Netflix’s Daredevil
Daniel D. Clark
10 Gods upon Gods: Hierarchies of Divinity in the Marvel Universe
Austin M. Freeman
11 The Thor Movies and the “Available” Myth: Mythic Reinvention in Marvel Movies
Andrew Tobolowsky
12 Thor: Ragnarok, Postcolonial Theology, and Life Together
Kevin Nye
13 Savage Monster or Grieving Mother? Sabra and Marvel’s Political Theology of Reconciliation in Israel-Palestine
Amanda Furiasse
14 Modern Re-enchantment and Dr. Strange: Pentecostal Analogies, the Spirit of the Multiverse, and the Play on Time and Eternity
Andrew D. Thrasher
One of the most striking features of this edited collection is the variety of topics discussed by the fourteen essays that comprise the volume. Theology and the Marvel Universe also succeeds at promoting perspectives and analytic approaches not often reflected within the dominant theological traditions represented by the collection. There is plenty of room for all kinds of readers; this work invites its audience into further conversations to broaden their horizons. Consequently, there might be no better description of its theme than the words of Stan “the Man” Lee himself: “Excelsior, true believer!”
— Reading Religion
Greg Stevenson has gathered a generically and methodologically wide-ranging assortment of essays for this collection. It will undoubtedly be of great interest to scholars and students working at the nexus of pop culture and theology.— Ben Saunders, author of Do The Gods Wear Capes?
Not too many books on superheroes do justice to the Marvel Universe of characters and stories from a biblical-theological vantage point—this study is a refreshing exception. The contributors dive deeply into the heroes and their myths without attempting to impose theological elements that are not already latently there. This collection of studies brings to light spiritual, religious, and moral truths implicit, and sometimes explicit, in the superhero films and graphic novels, and it engages both relevant and up-to-date sources. This book is worthy of recommendation for courses focusing on film, heroes, theology, or popular culture. — B. J. Oropeza, Azusa Pacific University, and editor of The Gospel According to Superheroes: Religion and Popular Culture
Assemble, true believers, and behold! Theology and the Marvel Universe reveals what Uatu the Watcher has long witnessed: Superhero stories are wholesome entertainments capable of inspiring reflection even upon the essence of the divine and our relationship with it. From the sanctity of life to suffering and sacrifice; from temptation to redemption; from humility to zealotry; from service to stewardship; from struggling with personal faith to confronting historical injustice; from dealing with bodies to caring for souls; from issues of identity and problems of personhood to surveying the celestial order; from source criticism to supernatural forces; from creation all the way to apocalypse—this good book offers confirmation and testimony that Marvel comics, movies, and television series are sources worthy of scholarly attention and enthusiastic affection. — Travis Smith, Concordia University