Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

In the virtual world elaborated in Marvel’s movies (the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” or MCU), “science” is creatively, strategically confused with “magic” and/or “religion.” Key supernatural/magical elements of the franchise’s comic-book source material are “retconned” (retroactively granted new narr...

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Autor principal:	Aaron Ricker
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Sheffield 2021
Materias:	science science fiction apocalyptic popular culture miracles wonder marvel cinematic universe The Bible BS1-2970
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f362703d33904c38924af867f0ead5ee
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f362703d33904c38924af867f0ead5ee2021-11-18T14:47:02ZCall it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe2633-069510.17613/pn0q-vn67https://doaj.org/article/f362703d33904c38924af867f0ead5ee2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://hcommons.org/deposits/view/hc:40078/CONTENT/3-ricker-call-it-science.pdf/https://doaj.org/toc/2633-0695In the virtual world elaborated in Marvel’s movies (the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” or MCU), “science” is creatively, strategically confused with “magic” and/or “religion.” Key supernatural/magical elements of the franchise’s comic-book source material are “retconned” (retroactively granted new narrative coherence and continuity) as advanced scientific marvels. I argue in the first section that a biblical studies perspective can shed valuable light on this contemporary sci-fi phenomenon, by highlighting the ideologically interested and culturally contingent character of “religious” phenomena like canons and marvels. The perspective thus provided can help elucidate the contexts and consequences of the MCU decision to retcon magical and religious cultural materials as scientific wonders. In the second section, I argue further that such reflection on science fiction and the MCU offers valuable perspective to biblical studies in return by opening new research avenues into the human and historical meaning of certain biblical traditions, in this case by recalling the sense of technology shock that must have sometimes accompanied ancient developments like the widespread use of war horses or the mass production of books—world-changing developments that modern biblical critics are not culturally primed to perceive and investigate as technological marvels.Aaron RickerUniversity of Sheffieldarticlesciencescience fictionapocalypticpopular culturemiracleswondermarvel cinematic universeThe BibleBS1-2970ENJournal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 44-73 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	science science fiction apocalyptic popular culture miracles wonder marvel cinematic universe The Bible BS1-2970
spellingShingle	science science fiction apocalyptic popular culture miracles wonder marvel cinematic universe The Bible BS1-2970 Aaron Ricker Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
description	In the virtual world elaborated in Marvel’s movies (the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” or MCU), “science” is creatively, strategically confused with “magic” and/or “religion.” Key supernatural/magical elements of the franchise’s comic-book source material are “retconned” (retroactively granted new narrative coherence and continuity) as advanced scientific marvels. I argue in the first section that a biblical studies perspective can shed valuable light on this contemporary sci-fi phenomenon, by highlighting the ideologically interested and culturally contingent character of “religious” phenomena like canons and marvels. The perspective thus provided can help elucidate the contexts and consequences of the MCU decision to retcon magical and religious cultural materials as scientific wonders. In the second section, I argue further that such reflection on science fiction and the MCU offers valuable perspective to biblical studies in return by opening new research avenues into the human and historical meaning of certain biblical traditions, in this case by recalling the sense of technology shock that must have sometimes accompanied ancient developments like the widespread use of war horses or the mass production of books—world-changing developments that modern biblical critics are not culturally primed to perceive and investigate as technological marvels.
format	article
author	Aaron Ricker
author_facet	Aaron Ricker
author_sort	Aaron Ricker
title	Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
title_short	Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
title_full	Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
title_fullStr	Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
title_full_unstemmed	Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
title_sort	call it science: biblical studies, science fiction, and the marvel cinematic universe
publisher	University of Sheffield
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f362703d33904c38924af867f0ead5ee
work_keys_str_mv	AT aaronricker callitsciencebiblicalstudiessciencefictionandthemarvelcinematicuniverse
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Call it Science: Biblical Studies, Science Fiction, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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