Are Superheroes Inherently Fascist

[Winter]

I mentioned in the Superman (2025) post by ProfessorDetective that many fascists and anti-fascists see Superheroes as Pro-Fascist. Eric Kripke, show-runner of The Boys stated how he saw Superheroes, here's the quote-

"The myth of superheroes themselves — though often created by young Jewish writers in the ’30s and ’40s — doesn’t really apply as cleanly today, because there’s these undeniable fascist underpinnings to it. They’re there to protect white, patriotic America. That’s what they were designed to do, that’s what they do. They’re protecting the status quo. When the status quo is problematic, suddenly they become adversarial — not your hero. And I think it was written by a lot of people who at that time were trying their level best to fit in and vanish within white, American society.

But we just don’t live in that time anymore. So the myth of the superhero taken straight, that’s where it starts to become fascist. Because they’re protecting a world that doesn’t and shouldn’t exist. Superheroes are inherently MAGA."

This seems to be a view pointed shred by the original creator The Boys comic series, Garth Ennis, who is infamous for his dislike of Superheroes and Captain America and Wolverine in particular.

Ironically The Boys had a massive Fascist and MAGA following who only started to turn on the show in the more recent seasons because they finally realized the show was making fun of them.

This is hard for me to take seriously as both Kripke and Ennis clearly have a bias against Superheroes and want to do everything they can to tear down the genre in favor of their favorite genres. I remember one video on YouTube that bought into this and went on a long rant that was poorly researched and didn't line up with actual facts. One point he kept bringing up was how The Boys have killed the Superhero genre and how there's never been a Superhero Satire series like this before... Ignoring, of course, all the series in both film, TV and comics that did the same thing.

But back to the idea that Superheroes are inherently fascist, this is nonsense. Putting aside the fact that many people who write this genre are usually on the left and not the right, even the ones who are on the right HATE Fascists and belittle an insult them just Kripke does, and often more successful then The Boys, at least as far as the original comics.

One of my issues with The Boys is an issue I have with a lot of similar stories, it is completely unaware of how pro-fascist it is. Fascism is violence and in The Boys violence is often as the one and only solution to any and all problems. One scene that's always stood out to me is when Homelander is blackmailed into leaving Butcher alone when Maeve shows that she has footage of him killing people.

In the end violence is only stopped by violence as Maeve is blackmailing Homelander to back off. And this is a reoccurring theme in the show, Homelander is often held back mostly by threats or the idea that he might be going up against someone who is as strong or stronger then him.

On YT there's a series called Universal Wisdom where Batman goes over plans to deal with threats from other universes. In one of these videos Batman talks about Homelander, ways to fight him, contain him and to one day, hopefully, rehabilitate him. This series gets Batman, he's someone who wants to help people and goes out of his way to avoid killing his enemies whenever possible.

Which leads me to my overall point as to why Superheroes are NOT Inherently Fascist. Fascisum can be summed up in three words, Might Makes Right. Those who have power can use it do to whatever they want. Superheroes, as Linkara pointed out, can also be summed up in 3 words, Might FOR Right, those who have power must use to help others.

This isn't to say that Superhero stories can't be fascist. Just look at most works by Frank Miller where he often endorses and promotes fascist ideas and while he seems to have toned it down in recent years his take on Batman in his Dark Knight series showcases the idea of those with power using to exert their will over others.

But that's the exception not the norm and often Superheroes are characters that reflect everything fascists hate. Superman is an immigrant, he was not born in the US and, if I remember correctly, he's often raised by a Jewish family and he himself identifies as Jewish and in is friends with people of color, his son is bisexual (I think) and one incarnation of his girlfriend is Korean.

One time I actually pointed all this out to someone who was MAGA (don't worry they never found out who I was) and his face DROPPED when I pointed all this out and he was so angry and said I was lying... I said to just pull it up on his phone on who created Superman and he did so and then threw his phone across the room when he read that the creators of the character were Jewish.

I left soon after but his look of absolute rage that his hero was Jewish was worth every second of it.

[clearspira]

It has been my experience that a lot of people use words without actually knowing what they mean. Capitalism, communism, socialism and fascism are the worst offenders (not accusing anyone here of this btw) and i think it is worth a refresh.

...

Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/ FASH-iz-əm) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, egalitarianism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[4][5] fascism is at the far right of the traditional left–right spectrum.[6][5][7]

...

This describes very few heroes in my personal opinion. Certainly not most of the Justice League or The Avengers. This definition only applies to "heroes" i.e. anti-heroes, Byronic heroes, suberversive heroes. But not actual HEROES. People like Spider-Man who exist just to help others.

It is very much a sign of the times that there are people who look at superheroes and think "right wing suppressor of democracy". Again, not accusing anyone here.

[hammerofglass]

I'd actually say they have a point... but specifically because facists are seemingly incapable of media literacy beyond a surface-level understanding that I can't even call childish because most actual children can do better. They see an aesthetic of "big strong white man defends Law and Order" and completely ignore everything else.

I'm actually a bit curious how they manage it; it seems like you would have to deliberately unlearn a ton of the culture you were raised in to be that clueless.

I have never seen anti-fascists make that kind of claim outside of a "some twelve year old on twitter or Tumblr" context, though.

[stryke]

No. Hell No. Just look at Superman, who is the usual go to example from people who don't know anything about Superman. He was created by two Jewish men, was an immigrant who just wanted to help out his new, and spent his early issues beating up corrupt capitalist types.

[Jonathan101]

People think fascism is "bad" which doesn't make people anti-fascist; it just makes people not want to be associated with fascism, and to make fascism into whatever it is that they are opposed to. Very few people are academically "neutral" on it they way they can be with most other ideologies, even ones they disagree with, and even ones that are potentially just as dangerous.

Definitions of fascism usually reflect the biases or agendas of whoever is writing them, even seemingly scholarly ones, and there are dozens and dozens of definitions out there. They are often "anti-fascist" rather than trying to be accurate to what fascism "is" without being against or for it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism

People tend to just cherry pick the aspects of fascism they don't like and then ignore or explain away the ones they are okay with or guilty of themselves, all in the service of defining fascism the way they want. This is especially true in periods of heightened political tension where people think their opponents are fascist (or simply want to call them fascist) and come up with their own "signs of fascism" that are really just a list of the (real or imagined) similarities between fascists and the person's own political enemies, while ignoring the differences.

Doesn't help that Mussolini himself changed what Fascism meant more than once of course, reflecting his own mutable circumstances and goals and because of how deeply factional and divided his regime really was, or that people are largely ignorant of history in general except for the bits that interest them.

So, whether superheroes are fascist or not really depends on what definition of fascism you are choosing to use today, which in turn probably reflects your own socio-political beliefs mor

[BBally81]

This seems to be a view pointed shred by the original creator The Boys comic series, Garth Ennis, who is infamous for his dislike of Superheroes and Captain America and Wolverine in particular.

Pretty ironic, considering Ennis actually likes Superman.

[BBally81]

But that's the exception not the norm and often Superheroes are characters that reflect everything fascists hate. Superman is an immigrant, he was not born in the US and, if I remember correctly, he's often raised by a Jewish family and he himself identifies as Jewish and in is friends with people of color, his son is bisexual (I think) and one incarnation of his girlfriend is Korean.

Actually, the Kents are usually confirmed to be Methodists, not Jewish. But a lot of Superman's lore has been influenced by the Jewish background of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

[Nobody700]

Eric Kripke is full of it. This is the same guy who views all sex as inherently evil, portrays rape as funny when it happens to men, and has constantly written stories where every culture but white christianity is inferior and gross.

[ProfessorDetective]

I'd actually say they have a point... but specifically because facists are seemingly incapable of media literacy beyond a surface-level understanding that I can't even call childish because most actual children can do better. They see an aesthetic of "big strong white man defends Law and Order" and completely ignore everything else.

I'm actually a bit curious how they manage it; it seems like you would have to deliberately unlearn a ton of the culture you were raised in to be that clueless.

I have never seen anti-fascists make that kind of claim outside of a "some twelve year old on twitter or Tumblr" context, though.

I DO know of a few fictional works that framed the Reich as what it really was: a bunch of pulp-adventure-obsessed man-children trying to make their insane LARP setting real. JoJo Rabbit is the big recent one, but there are many others.


youtu.be/bmFVnt4yusU

[CharlesPhipps]

Umberto Eco is a survivor of Mussolini's Italy and his definition of fascism was the definitive one in a lot of circles but the irony is that fascism actually has a shifting definition by NATURE. That's due to the fact that the original fascist philosophy went through several shifts by its FOUNDERS. Mussolini created a somewhat rambling "Make Italy an Empire again" with an economic policy of absolute government control that Hitler had somewhat similar before altering it several times.

This is something that academics struggle with because they like things in neat tidy little boxes but Umberto Eco says that misses the point of fascism being an EMOTION-based philosophy. It is essentially not something that stands up against rigorous argument and in fact argues against it. If you want a short definition, it is, "A reactionary angry at the world philosophy that pledges allegiance to a single godlike figure, creates a tribalistic group it exalts, and argues that things were far better in a mythologized past."

Fascism is basically a name given to the preexisting extreme nationalism, cults of personality, and reactionary racism that has probably existed since time memorial. It's more a set of concepts than a coherent philosophy and inherently anti-intellectual because the whole point is, "I feel oppressed and want to lash out at everything until Leader makes everything better."

The thing is that Leftists with an ax to grind against superheroes are falling into the trap of wanting to lash out against popular culture. Superheroes are often viewed as tools of the Establishment, Pro-Cop, and traditionalist in their values. This is due to the Comics Book Code. However, this mostly refers to the very specific time of the 1950s and 1960s DC comics as Marvel went to a counter-culture direction and vaguely pro-hippie and college as Sixties. Before, comics were very Pro-New Deal and anti-Hitler.

Leftist Pacifist antipulps also claim they glorify vigilantism and violence, which they've associated with the KKK. Alan Moore, of course, drew a comparison with Hooded Justice and the KKK. Alan Moore, of course, is British and doesn't realize that black and Hispanic Americans ALSO have traditions of real life vigilantism and this is partially why they made the changes to Hooded Justice for the Watchmen TV series.