The Advent of Marvel
On April 26, 2019, the Avengers: Endgame was one of the most anticipated movies people anxiously awaited especially right after Thanos snapped his finger wishing that half of life in the universe would disappear from existence. Even pastors from evangelical churches use the Marvel Cinematic Universe as sermon metaphors and illustrations to talk about great teamwork or discuss the battle against good and evil in the spiritual realm.
We can’t deny that Marvel is dominating and influencing our culture in ways that the church hasn’t been able to, especially when it comes to adults in the church. But the question is why? What is Marvel getting that the church isn’t? Is there something missing in the church that is driving people to turn to franchises like Marvel to fulfill some of their basic human desires like community and purpose? The answer lies in the practices of the church–– or maybe I should say the result of churches who neglect their liturgical practices. Evangelical adults in our churches are communing in dark-lit theaters while watching Marvel movies more than in their own churches because evangelical churches have severed the importance of liturgy in their congregation, service and worship to God.
The Nature of Movies
In order to understand why the MCU is attracting our fellow believers to these movies, we must observe the nature of movies. Movies are powerful instruments that can wield more power than people think. They can communicate and say something about what is culturally happening during a specific time (Johnston 24). Films are popular art forms and cultural artifacts that can shed light on major cultural issues and topics that a group of people are wrestling with. However, movies also re-present reality through the film techniques and concepts to dramatize a view of life (Romanowski 9).
Every single shot, image, verbal and non verbal gesture have been purposefully planned out and executed to convey a meaning .
Every single shot, image, verbal and non verbal gesture have been purposefully planned out and executed to convey a meaning (Romanowski 6).That means that movies do have the power to instill meaning and form their viewers in any way that they want to. Movies create and make meaning. Character expressions, storylines, and symbols are just a few ways that movies scream out for its viewers to think and feel some type of way about something. Films integrate ideals, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions about a given topic, and they never remain neutral on issues in life. Sometimes, they may even introduce people to unfamiliar foreign ideas, concepts, beliefs and territories that don’t have a good influence (Romanowski 9).
The MCU have become masters at generating meaning through each movie they produce.
The Formation and Legacy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel franchise makes sure that we're hooked on their movies release. It’s not surprising to see that the MCU has already begun planning the formation of their universe by introducing new superheroes and connecting storylines through each movie. According to this article, it lists out all 25 movies that have been produced. Marvel has divided up all their movies into four phases that cover a variety of different superhero backgrounds ranging from the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, the Avengers and many more. On May 2, 2008, Iron Man was the first movie in the franchise, so that means that Marvel has been in the making within the span of thirteen years and counting. It still continues to grow as new movies and superheroes are added into this universe. This fantasy universe has people hooked on the new movie releases. Each movie unlocks an unopened door to the invented reality of what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is. Eventually we will see the Marvel Cinematic World expand into a multiverse with multiple realities and worlds instead of just focusing on planet Earth's superheroes. Different directors cast out visions that connect one movie onto the other to carry out Stan Lee’s Marvel legacy.
So, Avengers: Endgame is the moment our culture has been waiting for. It is advent season for Americans as they await the good news of redemption for the Avengers.
It would only be fitting that we would anticipate one of the most exciting films of this franchise–– Avengers: Endgame. The previous movie Infinity War broke and shattered our hearts as we saw Thanos defeat the Avengers. After many viewers watched Infinity War, so many people posted videos of themselves analyzing each scene and casting out their predictions and theories on youtube such as this review. So, Avengers: Endgame is the moment our culture has been waiting for. It is advent season for Americans as they await the good news of redemption for the Avengers.
The official trailer had received a massive amount of views when it came out on March 14, 2019. As of when this blog has been written, it has a total amount of 147,213,982 views and 3.2 million viewers who liked the trailer. Endgame is the movie that bridged the gap between all the separate movie storylines that led up to this notable moment in history of the MCU. For the first time ever, everyone’s favorite superheroes like Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and many more would be fighting one of the biggest battles to save humankind from being wiped out by Thanos. The Avengers is the gospel of our culture. Marvel is the idol of our day. It is the good news that our hearts swoon over and anticipate. But why?
The Avengers is the gospel of our culture. Marvel the idol of our day. It is the good news that our hearts swoon over and anticipate.
The Rituals
Marvel's Brilliant Storytelling
Marvel purposefully designs their movies to train us to fall in love with the stories they tell throughout all their films.
The Marvel franchise embeds in us deep rituals and habits that can and will form its viewers. First, they set out to feed into a consumerist culture by their storytelling. In a way, we have become their bait without even realizing it. We're hooked on their storytelling. According to this article written on Premier Christianity, it reveals that MCU forms people to love their franchise because of their ability to tell a good story. It is a metanarrative. According to the Oxford Language Dictionary, a metanarrative is “an overarching account or interpretation of events and circumstances that provides a pattern or structure for people’s beliefs and gives meaning to their experiences.” In other words, Marvel purposefully designs their movies to train us to fall in love with the stories they tell throughout all their films. Think about the purpose of why all their movies have end credit scenes… Marvel has us wrapped up in their metanarrative so that we can’t wait to see where their next movie will take us. They are known for their end credit scenes. These scenes have become a ritual for people to stick around in the theaters after credits roll so they can try to piece together the bigger story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here’s a compilation of all the Marvel movies post credit scenes that may spark some nostalgia or give deeper insight as to what they are.
The Theater: A Physical Embodiment of Worship
Second, the physical space of a movie theater has deep and profound implications in forming habits of worship. When people gather in a movie theater, something profound is happening. Bodily presence worship begins the moment we take our seat in the movie theater to the moment we walk out of the theater room. When fans of a movie franchise sit in dark lit theaters with popcorn and soda, fellowship happens.
Fellowship is the friendly association of people who share the same interest.
Fellowship is a community or a group of people who share the same passion. For Christians however, fellowship is so much deeper because communion over Christ has theological, physical and spiritual implications for the Christian life which we will dive in deeper later. However, it can be said that movie theaters provide some type of fellowship and bonding over people who share the same interest for the movie they watch. In this dark theater room, people feel free to be who they are. Viewers make themselves feel at home as they grab their popcorn, wrap their jackets around their legs and sit back to enjoy the presence of their loved ones during the movie. Even the darkening and dimming of the lights creates some type of anonymity for people to feel individualistic, unseen and anonymous. There’s something about anonymity that makes people feel confident to be who they are without having to worry about how others feel or think of them. Maybe this is the time when all masks and lies are let down in the dark. It’s a vulnerable space and place to be in.
The positioning of theater seats also have profound transformative implications that make a huge difference. Theater seats are positioned in a fairly unique and purposeful way. There is a reason why these chairs aren’t positioned in a circle, and it’s because the attention isn’t meant to be on the people themselves. In fact, movie theaters want to limit any distraction that could hinder the audience from experiencing a wholly present movie experience. Therefore, all the seats are positioned in a way to direct the viewer’s attention to focus on what is ahead of them… the big screen. They are all built to face the front of the theater. This thoughtful seat design limits people’s distractions so that their gaze is fixed on what’s in front of them and not around them. Wouldn't this also be similar to how church pews have been created to face the main speaker or preacher? This could easily become a leeway of idolatrous worship embedded in the spatial design of a room. Can a movie theater become a sacred yet profane place of worship? Sacred in meaning that it is presenting a place of worship yet profane because it is not holy worship of the trinitarian God…?
Can a movie theater become a sacred yet profane place of worship?
All 25 Marvel movies have mastered hyping up all their fans from telling great metanarrative stories and creating places of fellowship and worship to these fictional storylines and heroes. Many of us cheer and shout during epic scenes of battle victories such as this clip here. Redemptive scenes like Scarlet Witch getting her revenge on Thanos after he destroyed her lover cause people to cheer and clap. From various movie theater visits to streaming the MCU on Disney Plus, they form people to worship the MCU. Marvel fans love the franchise, and the industry has made sure that their fans would consistently come back to devote their worship to these fictional storylines and heroic characters. People’s hearts await for the moment when evil is defeated, when Thanos is eradicated and all the world returns after the good guys get ahold of the infinity stones. Yet what can all these things truly reveal about the deepest desires ingrained in human beings? When we gather around our favorite MCU movies, can these observations reveal insight of something deeper happening within our hearts and communion?
The True Story
The movies are a bunch of connecting dots to a great and grand story, but the Bible is the unveiling of a greater and grander story of Redemption.
Marvel is an abstraction that is divorced from the reality of Jesus Christ. First, they revealing a story of what they think the world is and should be apart from God. Marvel fans love to see the reality of the MCU unravel before their eyes. The movies are a bunch of connecting dots to a great and grand story, but the Bible is the unveiling of a greater and grander story of redemption.
The Gospel is the climax of this redemptive story because sin is defeated. Avengers: Endgame has it's fictitious superheroes save humans through an imaginary world of the MCU, but it actually can’t save sinners. Viewers who watch these movies go back home living the same lives they lived before going to the theaters. The reality is that our world is in danger. We are living in the unraveling story of redemption right now. There is judgement and condemnation for those who don’t believe in Jesus, but there is eternal life for those who do believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16-21). We are people who are in need of saving, and Jesus Christ is the one who saves us. The MCU cannot save people from the reality of their sin.
and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
Jesus Christ is the good news. Old Testament prophets prophesied for the day the Savior of the world would come and save us as is recorded in Isaiah 9:6 . Jesus is the incarnated God who became flesh (John 1:14). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the true metanarrative that saves all of humanity from sin. Creation has been anticipating the birth of our savior to restore the broken relationship between God and His people. God says to the serpent in Genesis 3, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This is a promise that someone will come to defeat the serpent and redeem God’s people.
The first Adam disobeyed God that bore consequences. However, Jesus the Messiah is the second Adam who would undo what was done from Genesis 3. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection is an atonement for the sins of the world to restore the relationship between humanity and God once again (Rom. 5:12-21). He lived the life that we could not live and died the death that we all deserved. God loved the world so much He sent His only Son to save us for those who believe in Jesus (John 3:16). The first Adam brought upon death, but Jesus will create a new reality in him so that all would be made alive (1 Cor. 15:21-22). This is the living word of God. This is the true Gospel that should make our hearts rejoice in the truth that God has revealed himself to all of creation through His son Jesus who is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).
Liturgical Beings
If theology is knowing God that requires more head and heart knowledge, then liturgy is the doing part that reveals the reality of our theology.
Human beings are liturgical. In other words, liturgy is a fancy word that means the expression of worship that someone does towards the thing, person or object that they love (Clark 109). Liturgies are an outworking and practice of rhythms that form someone's heart, mind and body (Clark 109). If theology is knowing God that requires more head and heart knowledge, then liturgy is the doing part that reveals the reality of our theology. It is the action and practice of what one believes to be true in their heart. You can tell what someone loves or thinks about something by observing their actions and life. Liturgies have the power and capacity to shape someone’s purpose and express it in ways that show what someone believes to be real about the world.
When God’s people gather together in the same place and time to worship Him, they become the light of the world for the world to see their good deeds and glorify the Father in heaven (Matt. 5:14). Jesus is the one who embeds meaning into thephysical things and physical gatherings. He is the maker of meaning of all things in this world. Mark 14:22-25 shows Jesus creating meaning and worship for His people. He broke bread and blessed it then gave it to the disciples. Afterwards, He took a cup, gave thanks and then shared it with them. Jesus told his disciples to do this in remembrance of him. Likewise, believers gather in churches, sing songs of worship together, have communion, pray and baptize others to remember and worship him.
Therefore, liturgy exists to remind people the reality that they exist for Jesus to have fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit. They are tangible experiences that communicate reality in God. Liturgies are the practices that churches do when they worship the trinitarian God like singing congregational songs together, taking the Lord’s Supper, baptism, prayer and many more.
Created to Worship
God created human beings to be worshippers. He wired us to know Him, enjoy Him and worship Him (Isa.43:7, 41). Human beings are created to worship the Lord and love Him with all their senses. God wants His children to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37).
In the beginning of creation, everything that God created was good in His eyes (Gen.1:31). But all of this would soon come crumbling down when Adam and Eve disobey God from eating from the tree they were told not to eat from. Their disobedience and failure to repent of their rebellion against God brought serious consequences for them and the whole world. This is the first time that sin is birthed into the world. Everything that was good and harmonious between God and His creation has now been fractured and separated because of sin. Cornelius Plantinga Jr who wrote Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be explains sin as this: “Sin offends God not only because it bereaves or assaults God directly, as in impiety or blasphemy, but also because it bereaves and assaults what God has made” (Plantinga 16). Sin is the distortion, corruption, pollution and perversion of God’s creation. This means that every single created thing God made including His unique purpose and design of creation has become altered and jarred by sin.
The Fragmented Reality of Sin
As a result of the fall, the world has built up its own liturgies. It created its own gods and idols for people to worship.
If we aren’t careful, our hearts may become an idol factory. We become “lovers'' but not for God whom we were created to love and worship.
These liturgies of the world form us and our desires. They are competing for our hearts, and they don’t form us to love God. However, they appeal to people’s desires and direct their desires to other things that are not God. The world liturgizes through movies and form habits and desires in us. If we aren’t careful, our hearts may become an idol factory. We become “lovers'' but not for God whom we were created to love and worship. Jeremiah 2:13 says, “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
When our desires and worship are directed towards anything but God, we begin to worship temporary, tasteless and empty things that will never quench our thirst for the living God. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the few things that romance our hearts as we often find ourselves going back to find meaning, purpose and community. Except, the MCU will never give us the real true meaning, purpose and community that our hearts desire and yearn for in Jesus Christ. Therefore, churches must be called back to marvel (no pun intended) in the mystery of Christology and grasp liturgy because if she doesn’t, then the world around her will influence and disciple the people.
The Incarnate God Who Creates A New Reality
Churches forsake the transforming nature that comes from encountering Jesus Christ when they are afraid of its mysteries. Grasping and dwelling in the mystery of the incarnate God will change the trajectory of one’s entire life. However, human wisdom and knowledge has always been prioritized in understanding the world ever since the Enlightenment. People understand reality through what they can comprehend with their human reasoning. Therefore, people shy away from trying to fathom or understand the mystery of how Jesus could actually be fully man and fully God.
Maybe this could be another reason why fans love watching Marvel films. Their movies always have mysteries that are solved . Fans know what they're going to get in the next movie (Smith). Film critic Steven D Greydanus said this about Marvel films, "Marvel has achieved its unparalleled success in part by following the same approach as McDonald's: by offering a reliable product with as little risk as possible for either the producers or the consumers," (Smith). But the reality of God has mysteries that may never be solved and this may scare people from enjoying and delighting in Him the way we were created to.
When people confront God, their perception of reality is tested compared to His revelations (Clark 137). God cannot be contained in a box. There is no one who can ever know all the things of Him. Oftentimes He will tear down our ideas of who we think He is because our human wisdom and knowledge alone is folly.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
Proverbs 9:10
True knowledge and wisdom comes from fearing God, but fearing God requires having faith in Him. So, people become afraid of approaching the wonder of Jesus Christ because they don’t know how to comprehend such mystery according to their human wisdom. But until how long will the church and believers continue to run away from their fear of God’s mystery in Jesus Christ? We all will face Jesus one day and have to give an account of who we think He is.
Who Do You Say I Am?
In Matthew 16, Jesus is having an intimate conversation with Peter and begins to ask him who people say the Son of Man is. Peter answers and says that some believe it is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or other prophets. And then Jesus probes Peter with a deeper thought provoking question afterwards. He asks Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” So then, who do we say that Jesus is?
Answering this question demands that we either say Jesus is Lord and Son of God or that He is not (Clark 21). The primary question we must grapple with shouldn’t be fixated on how Jesus can be God and man at the same time. This can distract us from truly experiencing the joy of our salvation in Christ. Instead, we must place our faith and believe in our hearts that this is the truth of God revealed in Jesus.
God has given us the most beautiful gift of the Church through Jesus Christ.
The question we must ask ourselves then is how must we respond to this marvelous mystery? Believers should not be afraid to dance with mystery but instead embrace it. For when we truly embrace the mystery of Jesus Christ, our lives will forever be changed after encountering the God man. He will touch, change and transform every part of our lives. Our relationship with God is restored and renewed. Believers are part of the new creation through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Yet one of the most beautiful gifts that God has given His people through Jesus is the Church. God has given us the most beautiful gift of the Church through Jesus Christ.
The Identity and Role of the Church
The Church is the physical manifestation of God dwelling among His people on Earth. It is a physical gathering of people who worship God at a specific place and time as Gregg Allison uncovers in his podcast. The Church involves active participation from the believers that fully engage the mind and heart. However, she is also more than the physical bodily gathering of people. It is gathering of born again believers who have been justified through the blood of Jesus through faith gather together (Allison).
but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple of the Lord.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Jesus Christ is the foundation for why the Church exists. She exists for Him. Marriage between husband and wife is to point to the greater reality between the relationship Jesus has with his Church. She is the bride of Christ whom He loves dearly (Eph. 5:25-33). We must remember who we are as the Church, but most importantly, we must remember who we belong to. Believers are a chosen group of people who belong to Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:9). People from all different cultures, languages and backgrounds can commune together because and for Christ. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him [Jesus], all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–– all things were created through him and for him.”
The Church's Fractured Disembodied Worship
We claim that we believe in the incarnate God, but our lives don’t truly reflect that reality.
Yet because of sin, the Church can easily forget who they belong to. She forgets what she’s been set apart for and called to do. Our evangelical churches in America have shown an abstract disembodied theology (Snyder). This means that people’s theology contradicts the way they live their life. We claim that we believe in the incarnate God, but our lives don’t truly reflect that reality.
The Protestant Reformation may have contributed to this. During the 16th century, there was a huge reformation movement that occurred in Europe. Catholic church practices were challenged by reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin because they were leading people to work for their salvation. This led to the Protestants breaking off from the Catholics. So, the Protestant Reformation aimed to recover the view of justification and sanctification in accordance with God's word. Today, the evangelical churches have a high view on Scripture and doctrine however they have lost the beauty and art of liturgical practices. They have valued the written word so much that they have neglected meaningful practices and rituals that inform worship in churches (Snyder).
Our faith in God seems to be abstract as we focus only on the spiritual or doctrinal matters. In the meanwhile, we forget that our faith is also a lived out one as well.
Meaningless Worship Practices that Miss the Point
As a result, evangelical churches have created meaningless worship and practices. They have adopted the culture's techniques to attract people to join their worship services. Songs during worship are selected based on what’s popular on the Christian radio instead of focusing on theologically enriching lyrics. New baptized believers are plunged into communion without understanding the purpose of why they eat bread or drink juice. Sermons are all about entertaining the crowd instead of sharing the truth of God’s word. Food is offered as an incentive for people to stick around for the whole church service and to fill up the seats. The meaning of these practices have been lost. We yearn for genuine community. We are created for fellowship with others and to worship the triune God, yet our churches only offer artificial gatherings that have lost its meaning and purpose.
If our churches have lost the meaning, beauty and truth of our liturgies and our gatherings at church have become void and meaningless, then the adults of our churches will find other things to fill their yearning of community. They will turn to Marvel movies to find their identity and purpose meanwhile forgetting the reality of who they are in Jesus. They will find people who are passionate about the MCU who they can relate to in movie theaters instead of finding genuine, true and meaningful fellowship with those in Christ.
Taking Steps Forward
To Our Evangelical Churches: A Call to Deconstruct, Recover and Rebuild:
Recover a proper and right view of liturgy through theology and be faithful and diligent in loving God's word.
Liturgies form who we are in Christ and as the church. Believers who have gone before us have faithfully and diligently upheld the sacred practices of liturgical worship. Form a true and correct understanding and practice of communion, baptism, the singing of praise and worship songs, prayer and gathering together that is not void and empty. Here are some practical steps on how to do that: go back to study God's word and recover what communion and baptism are and what they symbolize. Read passages from the Bible, books, and articles that emphasize true and right worship that God desires out of His children. Another book I highly recommend for believers, church leaders, churches and those who desire to grow in theology and in their relationship with God is A Call to Christian Formation by John Clark and Marcus Johnson. This is a great resource that expands the conversation of theology and liturgy. It has been a huge game changer for how I see the world and understand myself in light of Jesus Christ. It has also personally helped me in my christian formation.
Form and demonstrate true worship in your congregational worship service based on what you have learned from theology and God's word.
Apply what you have learned and studied from God's word and from other faithful resources. First, reevaluate and reflect upon your church's worship service on Sundays to see if it aligns with proper and right worship that would glorify God and edify the body of believers. Think about why your church does what they do. Secondly, if you have discovered that there are areas in your church that needs to be recovered, converse with other church leaders in charge of planning service or with the pastor about your findings and opinions. Or figure out ways to serve in those areas at your local church! It's important that our church leaders are creating their worship services that allow true theology to infiltrate all practices because it will instill meaning in the practices we do together as a body in Christ at church!
Educate and teach your church family about what you have discovered in theology so that it may edify and encourage others in their personal worship to God.
Don't be afraid to share with others your joy and love of God's word! Don't lose the joy of your salvation in Jesus Christ! God desires His children to love Him with all their heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37).
To Our Fellow Believers Confiding in the MCU: Return and Dwell
Understand that you belong to Jesus and that He is the one who can satisfy your longings.
Read through the book of Ephesians and remember your identity is in Him and not the things of this world. Marvel movies are fun to watch and it's not entirely wrong or sinful to enjoy them at the theaters with loved ones. But the gathering that happens in those movie theaters are just the tip of the ice burg of genuine meaningful fellowship and communion that can only happen with the triune God through Jesus Christ and the church. We were created for so much more than to commune over movies and heroes. Return back to Jesus who is the fountain of living water (John 4).
Return back to your church and partake in true fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Your identity as a believer has implications and responsibilities, so take joy and live in the new reality presented through Jesus Christ. Find the joy of your salvation and worship God with all five of your senses! Engage in the worship songs knowing that you are worshipping the triune God who has formed and knowsyou. Rejoice in the baptisms at your church and celebrate knowing that the Great Commission is being fulfilled (Matthew 28:16-20). Partake in communion while remembering Jesus and rejoicing in the forgiveness of our sins (Matt. 26:26-28). Live in this new life that we have in Christ.
