Something is changing in the way our culture is portraying comic book superheroes. Have you noticed? In 2016 alone, we have seen Deadpool, Batman vs. Superman, and now Suicide Squad on the big screen (together raking in over $2 billion worldwide), as well as Lucifer and The Preacher on TV. What all of these movies and TV shows have in common is their portrayal of morally compromised superheroes who are willing to lie, steal, torture, and even murder bad guys. What are we to make of the rise of antiheroes?
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author John McAteer about his 39:5 article, “Suicide Squad, Deadpool, and the Rise of the Comic Book Antihero.”
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