In 2012, Marvel’s The Avengers pulled in over $200 million dollars its opening night and since then has gone on to make over $1 billion, ranking it at number one according to IMDb.com, making it the highest grossing superhero film of all time.

Luckily Brahm Wiseman, owner of Heroes Comics on Dundas Street, had some very insightful and in-depth point of views to reveal the reason why everyone loves superheroes and the pop culture that surrounds them.

A representation of modern mythology

Wiseman defined superheroes as our own modern mythology.

“They’ve sort of become our modern mythology,” he said. “You look at genres that were popular in the past and it was western and war movies and those were like the heroes from the near past.’

People who grew up in the ‘50s to ‘60s find it identifiable.

“I think now we look more towards the future for our mythology. You know technology is advancing so quickly that we’re like one step closer to that sci-fi paradise that we’ve always pictured since the ‘50s and that sort of thing, but a superhero is something very attainable.”

They teach us morals

Wiseman was also able to shed light on the fact that these characters teach us good morals. Much like how in the past peoples morals were widely based on religion, now it’s these heroes that have become role models.

“If you ask [fans] about Spiderman’s origin they’ll know that ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ That’s very much a morality play these days and it really speaks to people the same way that religion or other genres used to,” Wiseman said.

They’re relatable

The other thing that is admirable about these courageous characters is that, even though they are totally fictional they are also very relatable, which is what really brings them to life in comics and on the big screen.

“Marvel always appealed the most to me, as the same for most people. More identifiable characters, they seem a little more human, they’re set in the real world and have more real world sort of issues,” Wiseman. said. “Superheroes like Superman; he comes from another planet, he’s god-like, he wasn’t very human and undefeatable and where do I come into a story like that? Other than maybe identifying with one of his villains that he screwed over in life.”

So what makes a good superhero?

“A good hero has problems and makes bad decisions like anybody else,” Wiseman said. “I think to make a good character they need to have human flaws and most good heroes are not just black or white, they’re somewhere in between like all humans are a shade of gray.”

And much like superheroes, their enemies are also adored as well.

“What makes a good villain is somebody who’s identifiable because they became evil. Not because they’re just solely evil, but because they had some injustice done to them or had a bad upbringing or something done where they were cheated out of life essentially that made them bitter towards life,” Wiseman said.

The anti-hero

“In the ‘90s, when things became more extreme on television in general, things became less PG in general – through all mediums. People started routing the bad guys and you had sort of what became the antihero,” Wiseman said. “Characters like Wolverine, Punisher, Deadpool, Harley Quinn, Cat Woman, those characters people just love ‘em because they do naughty things but in the end they usually pick what’s right.”

“They’re not trying to kill a bunch of innocent people or destroy the world but they’re naughty and people like characters like that.”

Love for these characters root from them being more realistic and relatable. We might not kill people, but as human beings we are capable of leading wayward lives and being mischievous from time to time and these anti-heroes are loved because they represent the truth that nobody is perfect.

Films and comics

Sometimes these deeper aspects of the characters can get lost. However, Wiseman believes that at the root of it, Hollywood gets the characters very well.

“There’s a formula that they had carry but it’s now turned into sequels and especially where Marvel is concerned, world building – where you don’t have to do one movie and you don’t have to set up their origin anymore because we know it already and they can start building on the character,” he said. “They’re building this world where all these characters exist in it and they can interact and everything now is building towards more which is kind of like what a comic book is. It’s like a soap opera so you want to keep going on the continuing adventures of these characters.”

is may just be the scratch on the surface of our beloved heroes, but it is nothing less than marvelous to think of the impact that this pop culture has had on everyone. Because when it comes to our heroes… they truly are just super.