How do you feel about religion in super hero universes?

[eKongDiddy]

I'm watching Black Lightning right now, and am enjoying the show so far. I'm in Season 2, atm, but I'm not that familiar with the DC universe. Are there gods and what not, like Thor, in this universe? I've listened to Annisa constantly say "This is a blessing from God" and Jennifer saying "How do you know it's not from the devil?

It makes sense that religion is a big part of black culture, but for me personally, I find it weird that in these shows there is still a thought process of "Black Lightning(or any super) and then God almighty" in terms of power. With the Marvel universe, which I'm more familiar with, it makes sense with Thor and Dr. Strange showing the mystical and spiritual side of the universe. How do you all feel about people still believing religion and an almighty power when there are super heroes running around?

I just saw a scene where a mother told her sim she wanted nothing to do with him because he was of the devil and her real son was dead. This makes sense coming from our perspective, but if you ha e super hero's like Black Lightning running around, I feel like you should be more accepting of general craziness like this.

 

[Khanimus]

(from Spider-Man Homecoming)

Figures like Thor etc. definitely fucked with some peoples' faith.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

 

[TheMadTitan]

They all exist, so I'm fine with it. Especially if it results in things like Wonder Woman fighting Hawaiian gods.

 

[Platy]

I think it works better in closed universes like Daredevil story without anyone else

i think most writers loose awesome opportunities to deal with this when presented with the option

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" If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do."

Angel, another universe where religion is pretty much proved to exist

 

[subpar spatula]

Makes sense. Regular folk would see super power people are Gods. Folks already believe make believe individuals are, so why no people with evidence?

 

[Razmos]

I do think its silly that in such a crazy universe and all the things they see/hear they still believe in something so hard to prove exists.
Usually it just boils down to the writers wanting to put their religion in there

 

[Westbahnhof]

I feel like the proven existence of magic, god-like powers and super powerful entities makes a still unobservable God that requires pure faith, who won't do miracles or show himself, pretty difficult

 

[TheMadTitan]

I feel like the proven existence of magic, god-like powers and super powerful entities makes a still unobservable God that requires pure faith, who won't do miracles or show himself, pretty difficult

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But all of those could be seen as the manifestation of that unobservable God, so all bases are covered.

 

[caliph95]

I don't see why powers will stop people from believing in god

Hell in the CW verse hell and heaven exists

Especially in the normal universe all the religions are true and Ghost Rider is on the Avengers

 

[Htown]

As far as DC goes, there was a literal biblical angel in the Justice League at one point. There was a whole arc where they fought a host of angels who hoped to succeed where Lucifer failed.

Basically both DC and Marvel tend to take an everything-is-true take on religion, with multiple ancient pantheons running around in addition to references to current religions.

 

[Westbahnhof]

But all of those could be seen as the manifestation of that unobservable God, so all bases are covered.

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Nah, because the people turning back time and summoning lightning and perform huge feats of mystical power don't believe in the God. You think any preacher, christian or otherwise, is going to point to Dr. Strange and going "See?"?

 

[jem]

This is tangentially related (sorry if I'm hijacking) but I feel the same weirdness about big sci-fi universes.

500 years in the future, humanity has sprawled out across the galaxy and encountered aliens etc. but people still believe in god? Bit weird.

 

[Slayven]

As far as DC goes, there was a literal biblical angel in the Justice League at one point. There was a whole arc where they fought a host of angels who hoped to succeed where Lucifer failed.

Basically both DC and Marvel tend to take an everything-is-true take on religion, with multiple ancient pantheons running around in addition to references to current religions.

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I like that they have meetings and shit.

 

[Slayven]

I feel like the proven existence of magic, god-like powers and super powerful entities makes a still unobservable God that requires pure faith, who won't do miracles or show himself, pretty difficult

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In marvel mythology there is an explanation for that. Celestials told the gods to leave earth alone. So they are mostly happy doing their own thing in their realms. A few try to scheme and what not, but nothing serious less they bring the wraith of the Celestials.

 

[The Adder]

I do think its silly that in such a crazy universe and all the things they see/hear they still believe in something so hard to prove exists.
Usually it just boils down to the writers wanting to put their religion in there

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This is The Specter.
He is the literal living embodiment of Abrahamic God's Wrath.

 

[Septimus Prime]

In DC, not only does God exist, but there are also characters who've had direct contact with Him--such as Lucifer and The Spectre--and in turn have also had direct contact with regular characters. Characters have died and resurrected, having experienced the afterlife first hand, and some have even visited Heaven and Hell personally.

So yeah, in a world like that, you bet your ass it makes sense to be religious.

 

[Stantastic]

a recent comic in the current (and pretty great btw) Daredevil run had Matt taking to Reed Richards, this involved Matt asking him, the smartest dude in the universe, what he thinks about God.
Reed gave a pretty nice monologue in which he pretty much said no he doesnt believe in any above all creator god.

I found this to be an interesting scene somewhat ruined by the fact that i explicitly remember a fairly old F4 run where Reed and co flat out met God himself, and he looked and talked a lot like Steve Ditko.


But really i dont see the existence of superpowered folk, supernatural entities, or even legit deities like Thor as in any way counter to the supposed existence of that kind of absolute creator God.
Its a completely different scale of universal influence, like in Marvel its often called "The one above all" which is about as succinct a name for it as any.
It doesn't matter if you an ant, a human, or an immortal capable of punching holes in the universe, its capitol G God, hes above it all as much as he is it all, and presumably everything's still going as he intended it to.

 

[caliph95]

As far as DC goes, there was a literal biblical angel in the Justice League at one point. There was a whole arc where they fought a host of angels who hoped to succeed where Lucifer failed.

Basically both DC and Marvel tend to take an everything-is-true take on religion, with multiple ancient pantheons running around in addition to references to current religions.

Click to shrink...

Also
The Devil literally took las Vegas in a Marvel event too
The inferno x event
Ghost rider is a known hero and a ghost rider is on the Avengers

 

[caliph95]

Reed gave a pretty nice monologue in which he pretty much said no he doesnt believe in any above all creator god.

I found this to be an interesting scene somewhat ruined by the fact that i explicitly remember a fairly old F4 run where Reed and co flat out met God himself, and he looked and talked a lot like Steve Ditko.

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Reed literally built a machine that takes him to heaven so he can bring back Ben Grimm from the dead

And I'm pretty sure god was Jack Kirby considering he created the fantastic four and its usually him or Stan lee they use as a god or stand in for the writers

 

[Stantastic]

Reed literally built a machine that takes him to heaven so he can bring back Ben Grimm from the dead

And I'm pretty sure god was Jack Kirby considering he created the fantastic four and its usually him or Stan lee they use as a god or stand in for the writers

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ah shit yeah it totally was,
my bad, wires got crossed there.

 

[Mona]

Superheroes are the new religion

 

[Fleck0]

I think it would be like The Boys tv show. The supers would slot right into whatever culture they came from and fanatical religions would be as they are now if not more dominant.

 

[caliph95]

Honestly I'm pretty sure the religion thing boils down to you want to make relatable characters and a lot of people are religious or knows someone religious so Daredevil and Nightcrawler has to ignore a lot of the implication of all the religions being true so you can write stories about the struggles religious people face without muddling it with the dumb comic shit, it's why Reed is an atheist even though there's more proof of a God than not because it's how he would be in a more realistic world and it makes him stand out to more religious characters

 

[Crimson-Death]

It's all hierarchy of craziness.

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[Doukou]

God is just the superhero to superheros

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Even Teal'c of Chulak, the Shol'va himself, is like: "I know of no Goa'uld capable of showing the necessary compassion or benevolence that I have read of in your Bible."

 

[Richiek]

Here's a video about how Jack Kirby's devotion to Judaism influenced his work on Thor, New Gods and Eternals and others:

 

[The Masked Mufti]

As far as DC goes, there was a literal biblical angel in the Justice League at one point. There was a whole arc where they fought a host of angels who hoped to succeed where Lucifer failed.

Basically both DC and Marvel tend to take an everything-is-true take on religion, with multiple ancient pantheons running around in addition to references to current religions.

Click to shrink...

This. I think it was during the New 52 (or just before it) where the JL went up to Heaven to get God's help or something and Gabriel turned them away.

 

[Menchin]

If there were actual superheroes/physical deities in our world, people would find a way to rationalize it and fit it into whatever they believe in.

 

[caliph95]

I love that Zauriel was a Justice League member because DC fucked up Hawkman continuity so bad they considered him too toxic to use do Grant just created another flying character with wings but he's an angel

Like a fucking angel being a superhero was easier to explain than fucking Hawkman at one point

 

[Shig]

I feel like the proven existence of magic, god-like powers and super powerful entities makes a still unobservable God that requires pure faith, who won't do miracles or show himself, pretty difficult

Click to shrink...

2000 years ago people thought babies died because avenging angels didn't like the shade of goat's blood someone put over their door. We've made colossal strides in the studies of disease and medicine since then, but people still rationalize deaths as "God's plan."

Any new advancements or revelations religions will just reason around or selectively ignore. Too many people's identities are wrapped up in their beliefs being right, not to mention that there's whole networks of cottage industries in and around them that employ tons of people. There will never be a magic bullet that makes religious institutions say "whoops we were wrong, let's pack it up" and hang Out of Business signs on their doors.

 

[OhSatan]

It fits right in...

 

[Slayven]

Thor had this old rogue named Crusader who a fanatic christian that believed thor was on some Golden Calf shit. His belief not only made him insane but made him strong enough to fight Thor

 

[Tangled Up in Blue]

During Mark Waid's run, the Fantastic Four met God:

Spoiler

 

[Dali]

You just have to look at the real world as it exists now to know that there's no amount of happenings in the world that would make everyone abandon their book. If I believed in god I'm not sure why a person with superpowers would make me think any different.