This past weekend, we had the 7th Superhero Project Conference. This year saw us tackle the 15 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a series of papers that truly highlights the versatility of Superhero studies. While the first day of the conference took place in the Burlington Hotel, our primary venue was the stunning Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex. This was an absolutely breathtaking venue for the conference, which excites the imagination. The rich nature of the environment matched the creativity and depth of the papers presented by the delegates.
On the first day, we had papers discussing narrative, family, and the negotiation of character arcs through the MCU. This included the concept of literal family, such as the various Guardians and their dysfunctional relationships with their parents and siblings, to the metaphorical parentage as seen with Iron Man and Spider-Man. Everything from the main films to the Disney + series is explored. The papers were of an extremely high quality, and while there were some technological issues with the venue, it did not take away from just how compelling these papers were.
The second day saw us at the Castle, where the four panels covered were on semiotics, femininity, Muslim representation, and Kevin Feige. A real standout here was the session specifically focused on Ms Marvel and Muslim representation, presented by three incredibly talented Muslim women. While speaking as an agnostic, and one with a very surface level understanding of the Muslim faith, this was an extremely educational and entertaining set of talks. The second day concluded fantastically with a collective BBQ on the castle grounds.
The final day saw two panels focused on disability and culture wars in the MCU. While this was the shortest day, these papers were just as fascinating as others and brought the conference to an incredible close.
What made this conference possibly the best we’ve had yet, is that no paper felt out of place. Everything and everyone brought concepts and ideas that showed just how amazing superhero studies and the MCU can be, particularly when it comes to discussing such amazing concepts. While Super 7 might be over all too soon, Super 8 has a lot to live up to.
Mikayla J. Laird 