Why are superhero like Marvel’s “Avengers” movies so popular?

Having just listened to an interview with Todd Herman, author of “The Alter Ego”, it got me thinking about the many egos we have throughout our lives.

Watching my young primary school aged children play dress-ups, they invariably play as superheroes; Spiderman, Batman, Hulk, Wonder woman, Ironman, it doesn’t matter which one, but invariably a number of “hero” costumes will be used for each “dress-up” sessions.

But why? The kids have never seen the films as they are too young, however through school friends, older cousins, myself and of course the multitude of branded merchandise you can buy, they seem to know the main characters and their powers.

It isn’t just Marvel characters either; Star Wars characters and Disney princesses are also big favourites but it seems that aside from Batman, Superman and Wonder woman, it is Marvel that rules supreme. The popular characters are also the “goodies”. Where as the majority of Star wars costumes that kids want to wear are Darth Vader or Stormtroopers. Kids don’t seem to want to dress up as Rey, Yoda, Luke or Han Solo as much as Darth Vader or Stormtroopers, who are the “baddies”.

So why is that? Is it because the costumes are alter egos for the person wearing them? They feel they have that characters powers? Is it a confidence building element in children?

Kids don’t have a problem dressing up as these characters, it makes them someone else. They would go to school or grandmas dressed in their Hulk pyjamas if they could. However adults can’t dress up like this except for maybe fancy dress parties, Halloween or maybe even the bedroom if they are so inclined ;).

So what is the reason why superhero films are so successful right now? The movies are rated above primary school age PG-13+ so the target market for the film is not those children who dress up as the characters almost daily, but the phenomenal success of the movies is driven by young adults and even the generations above who grew up with them on TV or in comic books. Are they searching for their alter ego because their lives are stagnant and they don’t fulfil them to their potential?

Almost all superheroes live with an alter-ego, Spiderman is Peter Parker, Batman is Bruce Wayne, Superman is Clark Kent, Ironman is Tony Stark, Captain America is Steve Reynolds, Wonder Woman is Diana Prince, The Hulk is Bruce Banner, the list goes on and on. Even the popular “baddies” are someone else; Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker, the Stormtroopers are all someone else under the uniform. Perhaps the reason kids don’t dress as Luke Skywalker, Rey, Han Solo, Finn, Yoda etc. as much, is because they are who they are. They are the person not an alter ego.

We ourselves have other egos throughout our lives. For example one of the most powerful ways to ego change is by dressing differently, for example a suit makes you feel more important or more confident, workout clothes make you feel fitter even if you haven’t done anything, pyjamas make you feel relaxed but sleepy and of course nudity makes us feel vulnerable.

Music also affects our egos; rousing epic soundtracks like the Rocky theme or Gladiator make us feel inspired, sad lyric slow songs make us feel sad and unhappy. Songs like Pharell Williams Happy make us happy. Each of these are egos we have at that moment and even after the music stops we continue to feel that way and that is the ego we become for a while.

Imagine if we could tap into the superhero alter ego we felt we had as a kid wearing that costume. That level of happiness and courage we perceived to have by slipping on a piece of fabric over our body or face. The feeling we could do anything. It’s that feeling that leaves most of us through high-school and college and beyond.

In my opinion that is the reason these movies are so popular. It’s because we live our lives vicariously through watching these heroes and their alter egos fail and succeed, to have the courage to face danger and save the world, it taps into our childhood. As adults we no longer live life that way and many of us also don’t live as the person we could be, rather we just live life daily as the person we have been shaped as by our environment.

Maybe it is time for all of us to slip the mask back on and become the hero within again.

I’d love to hear why you think these movies have been increasingly popular over the past decade.