From mental health to government surveillance, superhero films have tackled complex real-world issues in surprisingly thoughtful ways. Join us as we explore the comic book movies that went beyond entertainment to address important social, political, and personal struggles that resonate with audiences worldwide.
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00:00The dawn is coming. One day, the Batman will have to answer for the laws he's broken.
00:04But to us, not to this madman.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the superhero movies that
00:13approach real-life concerns in thoughtful and surprisingly realistic ways. We'll be
00:18discussing specific plot points for many of these movies, so a spoiler warning is now in effect.
00:23It doesn't take a genius to see the world has problems.
00:26Yeah, but it takes a room full of morons who think they're small enough for you to handle.
00:30Number 20. Mental Health and Depression. Thunderbolts.
00:34The MCU's latest chapter is a breath of fresh air for the franchise,
00:38doing no small part to its emphasis on exploring the past of its anti-heroic ensemble.
00:43Even with the fresh slate their team-up inspires, Thunderbolts gives us a group of tortured souls
00:48struggling to escape their past.
00:50I thought it started when my sister died, but now it feels like something bigger.
00:56The movie doesn't sugarcoat their discussions of mental health and nihilism, instead giving each
01:07of them the chance to look their traumas directly in the eye. It's an unconventional approach befitting
01:12of its off-kilter assortment of characters, and Thunderbolts enhances its frankness by visualizing
01:17their respective voids in unique ways. These aren't the kind of problems the Avengers can save
01:21the world from, but the movie emphasizes the value of managing them with help from others.
01:26Look, I've been where you are. The past doesn't go away. So you can either live with it forever,
01:33or you can do something about it.
01:38Number 19. The Fear of Disappointing Others.
01:41Batman, Masked the Phantasm.
01:42We all know the story. Bruce Wayne commits himself to fighting crime after witnessing his parents'
01:48deaths. Rather than retell these events, Batman, Masked the Phantasm, zeroes in on the emotional
01:53toll Bruce's decision has taken. After reconnecting with old flame Andrea Beaumont, Bruce faces the
01:58possibility of a normal life.
02:00I never thought this would happen. I always felt like I'd thrown you a curveball, like you never
02:06knew what to do with me because I wasn't in the plan.
02:08You are now. I'm changing the plan.
02:12It's a dilemma far bigger than anything Batman's rogues could threaten him with,
02:16as the only thing that stings more than Bruce's loss is the fear of letting his parents down.
02:21In his mind, a world without Batman is one in which they died for nothing.
02:26I know I made a promise, but I didn't see this coming. I didn't count on being happy.
02:32The movie finds nobility and tragedy in Bruce's sacrifice, probing the question of whether or not
02:36doing the right thing should come at our own expense.
02:39Number 18. Propaganda and Xenophobia. Captain Marvel.
02:44You are just one victim of the Skrull expansion that has threatened our civilization for centuries.
02:51Imposters who silently infiltrate then take over our planets.
02:57When the movie Captain Marvel kicks off, we see Carol Danvers as a Kree warrior who's been fully
03:02indoctrinated into their world. The Kree are at war with the Skrulls and Carol is fully committed
03:07to fighting alongside her comrades. It's not until we get about halfway through the movie we learn the
03:13Skrulls aren't what she thought they were.
03:15My people lived as refugees on Torfa, homeless, ever since we resisted Kree rule and they destroyed our planet.
03:23As the pendulum swings back in the other direction, Carol realizes she spent years as the victim of
03:29Kree propaganda. It's this realization that should remind all of us that perspective is vital.
03:34One person's interpretation is not necessarily the entire story. Critical thinking is key,
03:40especially when lives are on the line.
03:42I used to believe your lies, but the Skrulls are just fighting for a home.
03:47You're talking about destroying them because they won't submit to your rule, and neither will I.
03:51Number 17. Losing Your Job
03:54Spider-Man Homecoming
03:55As much as we want to hate the villain in most movies, the best antagonists are often the ones
04:08whose motivations may be flawed but understandable. Even a big bad like Thanos had his own misguided
04:14reasons for the snap. Spider-Man Homecoming gave us the relatable Adrian Toomes. He was a blue-collar
04:20worker trying his best to support his family through good old-fashioned hard work.
04:24I bought trucks for this job. I brought in a whole new crew. These guys have a family. I have a family.
04:31I'm all in on this. I could lose my house.
04:33When the Department of Damage Control takes a huge job from him, he turns to a life of illegal
04:38weapons dealing. It may have been morally compromising, but desperation can read many things
04:43when you're trying to stay economically afloat.
04:45We build their roads, and we fight all their wars and everything. They don't care about us.
04:51We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps.
04:54Number 16. Economic Disparity
04:56Blue Beetle
04:57Coming along near the end of the DCEU, Blue Beetle didn't get a fair shake with audiences prior to
05:02its success on Video On Demand. That's quite a shame, and it's not just because it's one of the
05:07franchise's more enjoyable entries. Aside from its down-to-earth tone, audiences missed out on an authentic
05:13portrayal of families hindered by economic disadvantages.
05:16Doesn't it bother you that they talk about progress and get everything while we have to
05:19sit here and go broke?
05:20You're a Mexican in the edge, guise, cardinal. That progress is not for us.
05:26Even with an education and superhuman abilities, Jaime Reyes is unable to save his family from losing
05:31their house. Compounding his struggle is the villainous Victoria Kord, an ignorant industrialist
05:36who views laborers and minorities as a means to an end. Blue Beetle keeps one foot firmly in reality.
05:42By giving Jaime's journey genuine stakes and ensuring that the lessons he learns hit very close to home.
05:48Now we can die.
05:53Number 15. Parental Abandonment
05:56Batman Returns
05:57Tim Burton's take on Gotham City is a place where adults in costumes are just kids playing dress-up.
06:02In the case of Batman and the Penguin, their appearances and behavior are symptomatic of the
06:07childhoods they were deprived of. But whereas Bruce Wayne uses loss as a motivation to pursue
06:12justice, Oswald Cobblepot's abandonment turns him into a jaded man desperate for approval.
06:17I want to find out who I am by finding my parents, learning my human name.
06:25Simple stuff that the good people of Gotham take for granted.
06:28Both characters view the world in naive ways, but Batman Returns never fully allows us to
06:33categorize the latter as a villain. Instead, it asks us to consider what Oswald's pursuit of
06:38acceptance says about his lack of maturity after fending for himself. It's a thought-provoking
06:42experience to consider where a lost soul can go had they been given a chance to grow.
06:47My name is not Oswald! It's Penguin! I am not a human being! I am an animal! Cold-blooded!
06:56Number 14. War Profiteering
06:59Iron Man
06:59My father helped defeat the Nazis. He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people,
07:03including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero.
07:06And a lot of people would also call that war profiteering.
07:09Over the course of the MCU timeline, we have learned quite a bit about how the Stark family
07:14fortune was made. Howard Stark was a brilliant man who worked closely with the U.S. military.
07:18From weapons to the very serum that made Captain America, Stark was funded quite heavily by
07:23government contracts. This continued past his death. Unfortunately, his business partner Obadiah
07:36Stane crossed the line and began selling weapons directly to radicals. The arms business is a
07:41dangerous one and a connection that Tony Stark finally put an end to. As arrogant as he can be,
07:47Tony showed the world and us as the audience that powerful companies have a moral obligation
07:52just as much as a financial one.
07:53Effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturer division of Stark International.
07:59Until such a time as I can decide what the future of this company will be.
08:04Number 13. The Dark Side of Hero Worship
08:07The Incredibles
08:07Part of what makes The Incredibles so timeless is that its most relatable ideas only become clearer
08:13with age. In an era of superhero saturation, its status is elevated considerably by its innovative
08:19portrayal of fandom turned sour. This is best embodied by the cunning pettiness of the film's
08:24villain, Syndrome.
08:24I only wanted to help. And what did you say to me?
08:28Fly home, buddy. I work alone.
08:30It tore me apart. But I learned an important lesson. You can't count on anyone, especially your heroes.
08:38Buddy Pine's abrasiveness alienated him from his childhood idol, Mr. Incredible, sending him down a
08:43dark path of revenge against the entire superhero culture. Preying on the super's desire to recapture the
08:49past in order to further his future schemes, Syndrome's egotistical tactics are all in service of
08:55living out the glory he never got.
08:56I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone can be super. And when everyone's super,
09:08no one will be.
09:09That he ultimately backs up his words with actions only underscores the movie's potent argument against
09:15meeting our heroes.
09:16Number 12, The Dangers of AI, Avengers Age of Ultron.
09:20So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team.
09:24Right. That's right. You know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate.
09:27I don't want to hear the man was not meant to metal medley.
09:30The threat of artificial intelligence has been part of popular culture since the early 20th century.
09:35Whether it's Skynet from the Terminator franchise or Whopper from War Games,
09:39storytellers love using this idea to frame a threat to our world.
09:42So when Tony Stark and Bruce Banner decide to use the gem from Loki's scepter containing an AI,
09:48we knew things were bound to go wrong. They created Ultron, a maniacal being who saw the
09:53elimination of humanity as the only way forward. The human race will have every opportunity to
09:59improve. And if they don't? Ask Noah. He represents the worst of our human fears regarding artificial
10:06intelligence. Will what we create ultimately destroy us? It's certainly a question we'll face if
10:11we push the limits as far as Stark and Banner did.
10:13This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand.
10:16No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's hute that you don't get why we need this.
10:22Tony, maybe this might not be the time. Really?
10:25Number 11. Government Corruption. The Batman.
10:28For all of its problems, most adaptations of Gotham focus on the good that it's still capable of.
10:33That's not always the case with Matt Reeves' take on the Caped Crusader,
10:37which depicts a city on the brink of collapse due to widespread corruption.
10:41Your father was a good man.
10:48He made a mistake.
10:49A mistake? Can't a man kill? Why?
10:53Bringing the character back to Detective Roots,
10:55the Batman throws one hindrance after another into his investigation of the Riddler.
10:59The winged sleuth uncovers issues even more unsolvable than a riddle,
11:03like a police force owned by organized crime bosses and representatives ready to overlook wrongdoing.
11:08It's Kinsey. Narcotics.
11:11He's one of the guys I got into it with at the Iceberg Lounge.
11:15He's saying Kinsey will knife for the penguin.
11:20All right, Moonlight's just a cop.
11:21By the end of the film, the Riddler's plan to expose the city's elites not only begins to make sense,
11:27but also has us questioning if Batman can really do anything to help.
11:30Number 10. Accountability.
11:32Captain America Civil War.
11:34Our very strength invites challenge.
11:36Challenge incites conflict.
11:39And conflict breeds catastrophe.
11:442016 gave us two superhero flicks that dealt directly with the concept of unchecked power.
11:50But while Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice undercuts its tension with a convoluted story,
11:55Captain America Civil War is still paying dividends for the MCU almost a decade later.
12:00The Sokovia Accords cast a morally ambiguous shadow over Phase 3,
12:03with Steve Rogers and Tony Stark coming to blows over the role the Avengers should play in world affairs.
12:08If we can't accept limitations, we're boundaryless. We're no better than the bad guys.
12:13Tony, if someone dies on your watch, you don't give up.
12:15Who said we're giving up?
12:16We are for not taking responsibility for our actions.
12:19This document just shifts the blank.
12:21Splitting Earth's mightiest heroes down the middle for one of the saga's greatest fight scenes,
12:25Civil War supports Iron Man's desire for national security without admonishing Cap's fear of government overreach.
12:30It remains a hotly contested debate among fans, and one that's not likely to end anytime soon.
12:36Number 9. Corporate Greed and Free Will. Robocop.
12:39We believe an efficient police force is only part of the solution.
12:44No, we need something more.
12:47We need a 24-hour-a-day police officer, a cop who doesn't need to eat or sleep.
12:53The dystopian future of Robocop is capitalism taken to an extreme, if not entirely illogical, end.
12:59In addition to its satirical jabs at consumerism and product placement,
13:02it also features a grim landscape in which law enforcement has been privatized by major corporations.
13:08One such corporation revolutionizes the Detroit Police Department
13:11by turning a fatally wounded officer into the ultimate crime-fighting cyborg.
13:16It's here that Robocop becomes rife with philosophical overtones,
13:19as Alex Murphy gradually regains control over his consciousness
13:22and begins to question the ethics of his torrid brand of justice.
13:25What did you think?
13:29That you were an ordinary police officer?
13:32You're our product.
13:33And we can't very well have our products turning against us, can we?
13:37As the protagonist finds himself in the heart of a city-wide conspiracy,
13:40the movie's tug-of-war between authoritarianism and freedom of choice
13:44encompasses the best that science fiction has to offer.
13:47Number 8. Morals Around Mass Surveillance.
13:50Captain America, The Winter Soldier.
13:52Humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security.
13:58In the wake of the Edward Snowden scandal,
14:00the world learned just how much information the government is capturing about each of us.
14:04For the MCU, this was personified by the introduction of Project Insight
14:08and Captain America, The Winter Soldier.
14:10A series of heli carriers were to be used to identify possible threats
14:13to both the United States and HYDRA.
14:15The truth about what they really are is made clear when Captain America says...
14:19Yeah, we compromised, sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well.
14:24But we did it so that people could be free.
14:26This isn't freedom. This is fear.
14:28There's a fine line where being too protective can infringe on freedom.
14:32Captain America's second outing definitely illustrates
14:35how badly mass surveillance can be misused to cause chaos.
14:38The price of freedom is high. It always has been.
14:42And it's a price I'm willing to pay.
14:43And if I'm the only one, then so be it.
14:48Number 7. Post-traumatic stress disorder, aka PTSD, Iron Man 3.
14:53No sign of cardiac anomaly or unusual brain activity.
14:56Because I was poisoned?
14:58My diagnosis is that you've experienced a severe anxiety attack.
15:03Despite all their powers and the countless lives they saved,
15:06MCU superheroes can't always escape their own emotional and mental scars.
15:10Every one of the heroes have experienced some kind of trauma throughout their journey.
15:14In the wake of the lives lost in the snap,
15:16we don't blame anyone for struggling to accept such a massive loss.
15:20I went in the ice in 45 right after I met the love of my life.
15:25Woke up 70 years later.
15:29You gotta move on.
15:31None of this is more apparent than what we see in Tony Stark in Iron Man 3.
15:34Following the events of the New York battle in the first Avengers movie,
15:38Tony struggles to keep himself together.
15:39We're not used to seeing someone as confident as him in such a vulnerable state.
15:43What it does give, however, is a real depiction of how trauma affects us.
15:47Are they coming back? The aliens?
15:49Maybe. Can you stop?
15:52Remember when I told you that I have an anxiety issue?
15:54Does this subject make you edgy?
15:56Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?
15:58Number 6. Grief. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse.
16:01Lost is an essential component of the Spider-Man mythos.
16:04As this franchise's discussion of canon events demonstrates,
16:07the character quite literally can't exist without it.
16:10So we're just supposed to let people die because some algorithm says that that's supposed to happen?
16:16You realize how messed up that sounds, right?
16:19You have a choice between saving one person and saving an entire world. Every world.
16:24But regardless of who wears the mask, the web-slinger remains the embodiment of coming to terms with grief and moving on.
16:31This lesson places Miles Morales in sharp contrast with crime boss Wilson Fisk,
16:35as the latter attempts to override his family's death by beaming them in from another universe.
16:39While Kingpin is stuck somewhere between denial and anger,
16:42Miles is able to use the loss of his uncle Aaron to invigorate himself and trust his instincts.
16:47You're the best of all of us, Miles.
16:50You're on your way.
16:52Just keep going.
16:58Just keep going.
17:00He may still need time to fully grieve,
17:03but Into the Spider-Verse reaches an empowering crescendo simply through his willingness to try.
17:07Number 5. Animal Cruelty and Scientific Ethics.
17:11Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
17:12Look at you, as if you were cobbled together by fat-fingered children.
17:18How could you be part of a perfect species?
17:21The Guardians have faced their share of deplorable villains,
17:24but the High Evolutionary immediately took the cake once we learn about Rocket Raccoon's origins.
17:29A victim of cruel experimentation,
17:31Rocket's backstory is one of the saddest the superhero genre has ever tackled,
17:35providing us tremendous insight into his untrusting nature.
17:38The High Evolutionary's complete lack of remorse for his actions,
17:41which includes dispatching Rocket's friends,
17:44shines an uncomfortable light on the exploitative realities of animal testing.
17:48They made us for nothing.
17:49The stupid experiments to be thrown away.
17:53There are the hands that made us,
17:55and then there are the hands that guide the hands.
17:58It's easy to see why the wicked scientist's eventual defeat
18:01is one of the most satisfying in the entire MCU.
18:04For all of this trilogy's quips, fights, and killer jams,
18:07its greatest accomplishment is reminding us to approach the world with decency,
18:10no matter how strange it may be.
18:13Black Panther was the first superhero movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
18:31Instead of just being another action-heavy superhero spectacle,
18:35director Ryan Coogler made a film that shows the dichotomy of being black in different parts of the world.
18:39T'Challa lives in Wakanda, an isolationist nation ruled by African people where oppression is virtually non-existent.
18:46Killmonger, however, hails from the U.S. where African Americans have openly struggled for equality for centuries.
18:51You know where I'm from.
18:54When black folks started revolutions, they never had the firepower or the resources to fight their oppressors.
19:00Their clashing perspectives on how to handle the issue came from the worlds they were each raised in.
19:05By the end of the movie, it's clear there is still a long way to go to resolve racial issues around the world.
19:10Their leaders have been assassinated.
19:12Communities flooded with drugs and weapons.
19:15They are overly policed and incarcerated.
19:18All over the planet, our people suffer because they don't have the tools to fight back.
19:23Number 3. Morality and Utilitarianism.
19:26Watchmen.
19:27Can a bad thing still be considered right?
19:29And should we be willing to commit wrongdoings if they benefit the world long term?
19:33This is the debate posed by Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel in his 2009 film adaptation.
19:38Set in a reality where superheroes are outlawed, Watchmen finds the titular group investigating a plot to discredit them amidst a cold war.
19:59After the culprit Ozymandias reveals himself, the teen reaches a moral impasse upon learning their friend turned foe has framed fellow member Dr. Manhattan for a fatal attack.
20:08Though Ozymandias' actions ease international tensions, the group remains torn between their desire for justice and the peace their complicity guarantees.
20:16Everyone's going to know what you've done.
20:18Will they?
20:19By exposing me, you would sacrifice the peace so many died for today.
20:24Peace based on a lie.
20:26But peace nonetheless.
20:29This ending is destruction at its finest and will undoubtedly make you question if heroism truly exists.
20:352. Civil Rights X-Men Franchise
20:38I pitied them.
20:41Do you know why?
20:43Because most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes.
20:50The X-Men have arguably been Marvel's greatest outlet for exploring real-world issues.
20:54And that thematic death has provided their cinematic counterparts with incredible longevity.
20:58Over two decades into its run, the X-Men movies have held firm in their exploration of topics like hatred and equality under a superhero lens.
21:07It's hard not to see Professor X and Magneto as stand-ins for activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X,
21:12with their diverging approaches to obtaining mutant rights, highlighting the difficulty in coming together for a common good.
21:18The war is still coming, Charles, and I intend to fight it.
21:23By any means necessary.
21:27And I will always be there, old friend.
21:32The X-Men franchise is at its best when championing both sides of the coin.
21:36Hero or villain, we can't help but sympathize with anyone willing to fight for their worth to the very end.
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21:58Number 1. Terrorism and Anarchy
22:00The Dark Knight
22:01Even with the guy dressed as a bat for a protagonist,
22:04Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy never shies away from bringing a startling dose of reality to Gotham City.
22:09The Dark Knight, especially, maintains particular resonance through its parallels to the War on Terror and America's involvement overseas.
22:16The movie ruminates heavily on the idea of escalation,
22:19with Batman's mere existence making him culpable in the Joker's terrorist acts.
22:23They've crossed a line.
22:25You crossed the line first, sir.
22:26You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation.
22:30And in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn't fully understand.
22:34The invasive methods used to thwart the Joker make for a chilling treatise,
22:37both on the futility of working within the law and the dangers of operating outside of it.
22:42The Dark Knight asked if there's any way to combat evil without resorting to it.
22:46And that's a question we're still not sure how to answer.
22:49I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
22:53You'll be in a better chill forever.
22:55Maybe we could share one.
22:57You know, they'll be doubling up the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.
23:01Which superhero movie's message only became clearer to you in hindsight?
23:05Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.
23:07We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.