"For his part, Superman comes from the planet Krypton, meaning he's actually an extraterrestrial who happens to look like a human. A spaceship brought him to Earth as an infant, and he draws his superhuman powers from the sun, which charges him up, as well as the low gravity of his adopted home planet. Spider-Man, meanwhile, got bitten by a radioactive spider, granting him his "spider sense" and ability to climb up walls."
""There's Zeus, who hurls lightning, or Neptune, who can unleash storm surges. Thor, the god of thunder, can conjure up storms." For their part, the pharaohs also cast themselves as superheroes as sons of the sun god, responsible for light in the world. "The underlying reasoning was that there was basically no other way to explain unusual natural phenomena. Our superheroes today bear similarities to these deities, even if we don't deem them as such," adds Merkel."
Superheroes confront villains while sacrificing personal needs and rely on extraordinary powers to survive and protect others. Powers have diverse origins: alien biology and solar energy (Superman), scientific accidents like radioactive spider bites (Spider-Man), and divine or genetic heritage (Wonder Woman). Ancient mythologies and rulers displayed comparable abilities, with gods such as Zeus, Neptune and Thor controlling weather and the pharaohs presenting themselves as sons of the sun. Those ancient figures functioned to explain unusual natural phenomena. Contemporary superhero narratives mirror these mythic and royal roles, reflecting enduring cultural patterns that personify power and explain the extraordinary.
Read at www.dw.com
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