[Commlist] The Superhero Project VII - The MCU @ 15

*CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS*

*The Superhero Project: 7^th Global Meeting***

**

*“FIFTEEN YEARS OF THE *

*MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE” *

**

Friday 25^th to Sunday 27^th August , 2023.

Bader College, Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex, UK

________________________________________

//

/“That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it…and it's worked out 
pretty well so far…”  - *Iron Man* (Favreau, 2008)/

//

In the 2000’s, Marvel had firmly re-established itself on screen – via 
various film studios – with the /X-Men/ (2000-2006) and /Spider-Man/ 
(2002-2007) trilogies, two /Fantastic Four/ entries (2005 and 2007) and 
Ang Lee’s /Hulk/ (2003). These films kickstarted a renaissance of 
superhero cinema, showcasing sustained digital-based comic book 
spectacle that, in only the prior decade, seemed impossible.

However, the release of /Iron Man/ in 2008 began what would be a 
supremely ambitious process of consolidating Marvel’s iconic stable of 
superhero characters into a shared universe via the Disney-owned Marvel 
Studios. *The Marvel Cinematic Universe* (MCU) has become the shining 
and formidable front line of global representation of the superhero 
genre, a grand feat of interconnected storytelling across multiple media.

As 2023 opens, the MCU comprises an astonishing thirty films across four 
“phases”, sixteen television shows and an array of short films, web 
series, video games and theme park attractions. Such is the rate of 
development, it is reported that new MCU content will be released 
approximately every six weeks through to mid-2025.

A spectacular evocation of the superhero genre as a modern mythology, 
The MCU’s impact on the contemporary superhero landscape has been truly 
seismic. Guided by a strong fealty to the style and tone of the source 
comics, the franchise has generated an array of portrayals widely 
regarded to be as quintessential as Christopher Reeve’s Superman in 
1978. Historically, the MCU provided the first blockbuster superhero 
team film with 2012’s /Avengers Assemble/.

Alongside showcases of titanic spectacle (/Avengers/: /Endgame/), the 
MCU has successfully infused superhero cinema with comedy (/Guardians of 
The Galaxy/, /Thor: Ragnarok/, /Ant-Man/), genre hybridity (/Captain 
America: The Winter Soldier, Black Widow),/ cultural diversity (/Black 
Panther, Shang-Chi/) and, most strikingly, integration of pre-MCU Marvel 
films (/Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool 3/).

On television, the Netflix series /Daredevil/, /Jessica Jones/, /The 
Punisher/ and /Luke Cage/ provided a rich infusion of the adult tone 
that has defined the superhero genre in recent decades, alongside 
nuanced narratives that reflected contemporary social issues, fulsomely 
echoed in the recent Disney+ series.

As the MCU enters Phase Five, questions abound regarding the franchise’s 
ability to recalibrate and progress after the MCU’s inaugural 23-film 
/Infinity Saga. A/s a prodigious generator of mainstream corporate 
entertainment content, has the MCU simply become too big and too 
demanding of its devoted audiences? Moreover, has the MCU’s de facto 
representation of the superhero as a globally dominant screen action 
hero in the 21^st century fundamentally altered what a superhero is?

For its seventh edition, /The Superhero Project/ invites 
inter-disciplinary discussion on The MCU’s first fifteen years, 
encompassing all of its media outputs. Indicative themes for discussion 
in the context of superhero discourse may include but are not limited to:

  * Adaptation
  * Fan cultures
  * The MCU as Transmedia
  * The MCU as Contemporary Mythology
  * The MCU and Disneyfication
  * Intertextuality
  * Multiversal Storytelling
  * Diversity & Inclusion
  * Feminism
  * Postmodernity
  * The MCU and the Globalised Superhero
  * The MCU as ground for Culture Wars
  * Identity
  * Representations of Mental Illness / Disability
  * Sexuality, Gender & Ethnicity
  * Audiences (Relationship with / Demands Upon)
  * The MCU and The Hollywood Star System
  * Representations of Violence
  * Symbiosis with Comics Source Material

*WHAT TO SEND*:

300 word abstracts should be submitted by *Tuesday 28^th February, 2023* 
to the following e-mail addresses: 
(d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk)<mailto:(d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk)>and 
(torsten.caeners /at/ uni-due.de)<mailto:(torsten.caeners /at/ uni-due.de)>.

E-mails should be entitled: *_SUPER VII Abstract Submission_*.

Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; 
abstracts should be in MS Word formats with the following information 
and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to 
appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of 
proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.

Accepted proposals will be notified by *Monday March^13^th , 2023*.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all proposals submitted. If you do 
not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not 
receive your proposal, If this is the case, please do resend to both 
e-mail addresses. If you have any questions, the Organising Chairs will 
be only too happy to assist.

*Organising Chairs*:

Danny Graydon (University of Hertfordshire): 
(d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk)<mailto:(d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk)>

Dr Torsten Caeners (University of Duisburg-Essen): 
(torsten.caeners /at/ uni-due.de)<mailto:(torsten.caeners /at/ uni-due.de)>

*Danny Graydon*, FHEA

Senior Lecturer, Screen (Digital Animation) | CCS / Context Lead, BA 
(Hons) Animation

Collaborative Partnership Leader, Escola Britanica des Artes Criativas 
(EBAC), Sao Paulo, Brazil

School of Creative Arts | University of Hertfordshire | College Lane | 
Hatfield | AL10 9AB

Office: AB170 | Tel: +44 (0)1707 284 000 | Email: (d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(d.graydon /at/ herts.ac.uk)>__| Internal Ext: 5336

*THE SUPERHERO PROJECT VII*: August 25-27, 2023, Herstmonceux Castle, 
Sussex, UK.

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