Superheroes are supposedly motivated by compassion for others and a strong sense of duty. Given this, you'd expect them to do more with their powers than just punch evildoers into submission – there are loads of problems in the world that superpowers could really help with e.g., natural disasters, famines, disease, climate change, poverty, lack of energy (I'm looking at you, Tony Stark), etc. So what else should the Marvel heroes have been doing offscreen? What does that say about the characters if they weren't doing those things? And why is it that screenwriters/comic book writers don't think to build this into the fictional world – is it just lack of imagination?
I think this question is particularly interesting following Black Panther, where Wakanda's duty to the world is such an overarching theme. It can provide a great contrast to everything that's come before. – abran7 years ago
This is a really fascinating topic. I think at the heart of it is the fact that we strongly associate 'superheroes' with 'action'. To most of us, superheroes 'taking action' is yeah, punching evildoers, not really doing something as intensive as scientific research or lobbying. The skillsets of most Marvel superheroes don't really align with those issues. Tony is an engineer specialising in weapons (who had a change of heart about that, so yay?), Cap in another time would've been a highly-skilled mercenary... Actually, Banner could be an exception, given his expertise in biochemistry... It could also be that the stakes are 'awesomer' if they manifest through a tangible enemy, rather than something as abstract and therefore difficult to fight against like poverty. – Starfire7 years ago
This is an interesting take on The Avengers. I would say Avengers fighting famine, poverty, etc. would make for a great new focus for future films. – Yvonne7 years ago
In the first Avengers movie, Tony explains that he is, in fact, contributing to the clean energy market. Black Panther's big opening scene shows him taking down human traffickers, and at the end of his movie Wakanda begins offering assistance to the world. There's no reason to think that the superheroes who are allowed to show their faces in public are not helping with the world's problems in between movies. We just don't get to see it happening, because it doesn't make for interesting superhero movies.
Also, I think it speaks to human nature. People tend to use what power they have for personal gain. These superheroes can make the world a better place by fixing the environment, but they can also do it by fighting people and aliens and robots, which feels much more personal. We the audience can empathize and engage with the latter. – noahspud7 years ago
Working more inclusively with the governments and try to solve other real world problems. – Abhilash6 years ago
