This paper discusses the prominence of serialization practices in contemporary Hollywood blockbuster cinema from the vantage points of political economy and seriality studies. As insightful and comprehensive as it is engaging and timely, this full-length examination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a rewarding read for passionate superhero fans as well as researchers in the fields of film studies, political science, and cultural studies.' - Marc DiPaolo, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, author of War, Politics, and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film. What is it about these films that has resonated with audiences all around the globe? Are they just disposable pop culture artifacts or might they have something interesting to say about the fears and anxieties of the world we live in today? Beginning with Iron Man in 2008, this study provocatively explores both the cinematic and the televisual branches of the series across ten dynamic and original chapters from a diverse range of critical perspectives which analyse their status as an embodiment of the changing industrial practices of the blockbuster film and their symbolic potency as affective cultural artifacts that are profoundly immersed in the turbulent political climate of their era.

In the first single-authored monograph on the topic of the Marvel cinematic universe, Terence McSweeney asks, 'Why has the superhero genre reemerged so emphatically in recent years?' In an age where people have stopped going to the cinema as frequently as they used to, they returned to it in droves for the superhero film. Avengers Assemble! is a vibrant and theoretically informed interrogation of one of the defining and most financially successful film franchises of the new millennium. We are living in the age of the superhero and we cannot deny it.

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