Supervillains are the real heroes

This chapter discusses how superhero stories differ from most other forms of Western storytelling comply with Joseph Campbell's "universal myth", whereby an inexperienced hero is called away to adventure, endures trials and eventually returns home changed. By contrast superhero storytelling favours a hero who rejects change and works to enforce the status quo. Thus the agent of change in such stories is the villain - or supervillain - who must be foiled by the superhero.

This is partly due to the transtextual nature of superhero storyworlds, in which many different storylines rely on the storyworld remaining more or less the same. It is also due to the many transmedia adaptations and especially merchandising deals which rely on characters looking roughly the across different media formats and merchandising.

Occasionally stories are told where superheroes attempt to change the status quo for the better, but this invariably goes wrong, with the heroes shown to be no better than their supervillains. Conversely, when change is actively required supervillains may be called on to act as the heroes. Examples are given of these phenomena, using Doctor Doom as the prime example of a supposed supervillain who has all the traits usually associated with superheroes, including a sympathetic back story, stirring origin, and desire to make the world a better place... even if that better world is one in which he alone is ruler!