I always get back up: fear and pain in superhero movies

Back in January, when the temperatures ran at a horrifying 40 degrees for several days in a row, I took myself off to go see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Then I came home and watched Deadpool 2, and then the next day I watched Logan. These movies have more in common than you’d think: I liked them all, they all made me cry at least a little bit, and they all made me think about the ways in which fear and pain are represented in superhero movies. Was I delirious from heat and the crippling existential terror of climate change when I connected these particular dots? A little. But they’re fun dots, so humour me. Spoilers ahead for Into the Spider-Verse, Deadpool 2, Logan and even Infinity War, but definitely not Endgame, so isn’t that refreshing?