ML200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Medievalism, Ultron, Space Viking
ML200
Superheroes of the Round Table: the modern superhero genre and its medieval resonances
Medievalism
• Tony Stark/Iron Man – similar to the story of bishops – wild party animals to religious devotees
Why Resonances?
• Plenty of direct interaction with medieval characters (primarily Arthurian)
o Morgan le Fey (Avenger)
o Marvel UK
o Batman: Chalice
▪ Protecting the Holy Grail
• Overt and covert Medievalisms?
o Matthews: residual or Makezie’s: stealth
o Very easy to iss if you do’t kow what you’re lookig for
Overt Medievalism
• Thor: a readapted space Viking from what was the Norse mythology perception
o More traditional superhero-type character
o Hammer straight from Norse mythology
o Blondeness is a bit off
• Hawkeye: guy with a bow fighting robots and gods
o Not quite Robin Hood in movies, but he is in the comic books
• Black Widow fighting on the streets – holding swords in a setting where it does not make sense
o Medieval iconography
• Medieval fan art
• Avengers are effectively the round table
Covert Medievalism
• Heroes sitting in conference around a round table is a subtle credits
• Chitari ship as a space dragon chasing Iron Man, the knight (armour and servant code)
Meta Issue
• No real Arthurian cannon, but clear depictions in comics
• Connection between Arthurian and Marvel universes
Clips
• Thor – battle between 2 mythological forces in Norway in the 10th cen. AD with direct
connection to Norse mythology
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