By Raymond Lam [SPOILERS for Frozen 2 below!!] Ever since Disney captured lightning in a bottle with Frozen (2013), its protagonists Elsa and Anna have been interpreted as a sisterly Yin and Yang, as opposites of one kind or another. What warms the hearts of children and adults alike is how different Anna and Elsa seem, yet…
The Exilic Community and a Better Way in the Mandalorian
By Jake Doberenz The first live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian, debuted on Disney+ last November and has mostly received positive reviews. The show follows a Mandalorian, who is nicknamed “Mando” at first, in his bounty hunter endeavors and then in his journey to protect The Child, a cute 50-year-old baby alien dubbed by the…
Doomsday Clock and the Triumph of Hope
By Matthew Brake [Beware Spoilers!] In 2016, DC Comics, particularly writer Geoff Johns, made a bold move and tamped with one of the most sacred cows in comic book fandom—Watchmen. After the initial success of the New 52 reboot, which saw DC Comics do away with years of complicated backstory in order to draw in…
Evil and the Bat: Part Two: Free Will’s Confrontation with Time and Destiny
By Raymond Lam (Read Part One of this blog series here) In my first entry, I attempted to explain how the theology of the DC Universe came to be (over a decade between 2008 and 2018) defined by the metaphysical conflict between Batman, DC’s ultimate human archetype or ideal, and Darkseid, who serves as not…
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Spider-Man
Call for Papers: Theology and Spider-Man Volume Editor: George Tsakiridis, PhD Abstract and CV Due: December 30, 2019 Final Paper Due: May 1, 2020 He’s the classic superhero of the Marvel age: Spider-Man. Marvel comics wouldn’t be the titan of content it is without him. He’s been portrayed in multiple comic books, television series, and…
Call for Papers: The Theological World of Harry Potter
Call for Papers: The Theological World of Harry Potter Editors: Taylor J. Ott (Fordham University) and Shaun Brown (Villa Maria College) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for an edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and Harry Potter. Essays should prioritize the books but may include or concentrate…
Good, Evil, and Boredom in Good Omens
By John MacDonald This article examines the theology/literary sources of the TV show Good Omens from the point of view of the theological/existential/cultural problem of boredom, especially as developed by Ecclesiastes, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Starting around 18:38 of Good Omens Season 1, Episode 6, Beelzebub says to Adam Young, “When it’s over, you’re going to…
Monsters and Saints: Stranger Things Meets Daniel 7
Our friend, Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade over at EcoPreacher has written a piece on Stranger Things I thought was worth sharing here: “Monsters are mythical creatures symbolizing that which terrifies and terrorizes us. Whether it’s the Demogorgon of Stranger Things, or Grendel in the medieval story of Beowulf, or the beast with ten horns…
Lady Gaga, Blood Mary, and Mary Magdalene
By Princess O’Nika Auguste Lady Gaga’s second full-length studio album, Born this Way is a true gospel album. From the album’s title track focused around the message that we are all created by God as we are (regardless of race, sexuality or gender) to songs with titles like “Black Jesus+Amen”, Born this Way is replete…
How the Liberal Reception of Joker Feels Evangelical
By Danny Anderson Who is the protagonist of Todd Phillips’ Joker? Much of the controversy surrounding the film hinges on this question. Many of its detractors accuse the film of casting the maniacal arch villain as hero in a Batman-less world. Their criticism is often grounded in a fear the film will inspire desperate members…
Call for Papers: Moral Theology and the World of Walt Disney
Editor: Jeremy E. Scarbrough (scarbrj@phsc.edu) Theology and Pop Culture is seeking contributions for a potential edited volume on Moral Theology and the Musical World of Walt Disney, to be published by Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield. The significant contributions of Walt Disney Studios in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—to our overall…
“I want to tell you a different story”: Hope Parallels in The Walking Dead and The Resurrection
By Justin Martin *Warning: minor spoilers for Seasons 2, 4, 5, and 9. “Why is he up there addressing the people like that?” This was one of my first thoughts when I saw Saddiq on stage addressing the people of the kingdom (Season 9, Episode 15), arguably the most devastating loss among The Walking Dead…
Vision: Batman V Superman – Dawn of Justice
By Stephen Garner ***A version of this article previously appeared in Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice,23, no. 2 (2016): 43-45., and is used here with permission from the author and the journal. If you like superheroes, then it doesn’t get much better than current cinema and television. Not only are…
Evil and The Bat: Time and Destiny From Final Crisis to Dark Nights Metal, 2008-2018
By Raymond Lam Evil is at once profound and overused, haunting and trite. Thanks to its deep roots in Western theology and philosophy, it has been the “go-to” theme for so many for our entertainment mediums. Yet we are not always sure how we can tell a story about it in a way that gives…
Returning to Yourself and to God in Walt Whitman
By Samuel Bennett According to David L. Weddle, religion rests on two pillars: miracle stories and practices of sacrifice.[1] The miracle story announces good news: the mundane plane upon which we typically live and have our being is not the whole story; and the divine side of reality occasionally crosses over to ours. Energized by the…
Call for Papers: Theology and Spider-Man
Call for Papers: Theology and Spider-Man Volume Editor: George Tsakiridis, PhD Abstract and CV Due: November 30, 2019 Final Paper Due: May 1, 2020 He’s the classic superhero of the Marvel age: Spider-Man. Marvel comics wouldn’t be the titan of content it is without him. He’s been portrayed in multiple comic books, television series, and…
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and the DC Universe
Over the last several years, scholars have demonstrated the salience of popular culture as a site for the academic study of religion, in areas including video games, science fiction, film, and comics. The study of religion and comics is flourishing with several monographs, edited volumes, and articles having come out in the last several years….
Matthew Brake on TheoFantastique
This has been the week for podcasts with friends! I (Matt) had the opportunity at the beginning of the week to record an episode for the TheoFantastique blog podcast with John Morehead. John is actually co-editing an upcoming book on Theology and Horror. It was a pleasure to sit down and talk to him. One particular joy…
Matthew Brake on Theology Shorts
This week, I (Matt) had an opportunity to sit down with a friend of the blog and co-editor of the forthcoming Theology and Star Trek volume Shaun Brown, host of Theology Shorts to discuss the blog, the Theology and Pop Culture series, and the Religion and Comics series. Check out the episode as well as the rest of Shaun’s…
Titans and the Beautiful Terror of Divine Community
By Danny Anderson The DC Universe series Titans is set to drop its second season on September 6th. The show, a very adult rendition of DC’s popular Teen Titans combo, conspicuously drops the “Teen” from its title. This dark move has been the main focus of the conversation about the show, with many viewers making the claim…
Marie Kondo: Tidying Up and Spirituality
By Kim Anderson Okay, I admit it. This is an unpopular opinion. But I have a love-hate relationship with the KonMari Method. Marie Kondo has become the guru of home organization in the last couple of years, even gaining her own Netflix series, Tidying Up: with Marie Kondo. Now that’s notoriety. For those of you not…
Spider-Man: Far From Home – Truth, Perception, and the Need to Believe
By Stephanie Pacheco I am a sucker for the Marvel universe. If I am a piano, it can play me all day long. Spider-Man: Far from Home hits all the right notes of emotions for fans after Avengers: Endgame, as well as major cultural and philosophical points, especially perceptions and truth. Its success points to a…
Vision: Altered Carbon and Westworld
By Stephen Garner ***A version of this article previously appeared in Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice, 25, 1 (18 July 2018), and is used here with permission from the author and the journal. “We aren’t meant to live forever. It corrupts even the best of us.” – Quellcrist Falconer, Altered Carbon (Season…
Like Tears in Rain: Rutger Hauer, Blade Runner, and Being Fully Human
By Leah D. Schade In honor of Rutger Hauer, who played the Replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner, our friend Rev. Dr. Leah Schade (an avid fan of the Blade Runner franchise) has written a piece in memory of Hauer: “What Hauer captured in this character was the full scope and depth of human emotion. From…
The Lion King, Re-imagining Righteousness, and Religious Pluralism
By Andrew D. Thrasher, ThM The Lion King, a film known for its powerful songs and story line, has had a major impact across generations since the original animated film was released in 1994. A few years ago, after beginning to teach world religions, I watched The Lion King and was struck by the theological pluralism…
“I’m Alright”: The Sovereign Expressivist Self in Lucifer Season Four
By Charles Hackney and Amanda MacInnis-Hackney In 2018, after three seasons, Fox Network announced the cancellation of the television show, Lucifer. Based on the work of Neil Gaiman, the show was about Lucifer living in Los Angeles, the owner of a nightclub, and living the playboy lifestyle. Lucifer became a consultant to the LAPD, working…
Rick and Jesus and Morty
By Sarey Martin Concepcíon A comedy sketch on the Inside Amy Schumer show presents two white women in their 20s discussing an epiphany over fro-yo. The redhead says to the brunette, “So I was texting while I was driving the other day, and I ended up making a wrong turn that took me directly past a…
The Horns and Wings of Maleficent
By Jamie Armstrong We have all heard the story of Sleeping Beauty, a story in which a young, beautiful princess named Aurora is cursed to die on her sixteenth birthday, by an evil fairy named Maleficent. Now, according to most theologians, evil isn’t really a thing of God. God is the only one who can…
Fleabag: An Unexpected Theological Text
By George Tsakiridis As some of you may know, I am currently writing a book for the Theology and Pop Culture Series entitled Theology and The Americans. Because of this, I’m binge watching the series (more than normal). After finishing the sixth season, I took a break from The Americans this week to catch up on…
Made In Our Image: A Comparison of Adaptations of Jesus Christ and Spider-Man
By Matt Griffin “Listen Jesus, do you care for your race?” –Jesus Christ Superstar In 2011, as Sony Pictures began planning its first reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise, they signed a licensing agreement with Marvel Entertainment about requirements for the new take on the character. These included many of Spider-Man’s signature traits: his real…
CFP: Theology and the DC Universe
Over the last several years, scholars have demonstrated the saliency of popular culture as a site for the academic study of religion, in areas including video games, science fiction, film, and comics. The study of religion and comics is flourishing with several monographs, edited volumes, and articles having come out in the last several years….
CFP: Theology and Batman
Editors: Matthew William Brake and Rev. C. K. Robertson, Ph.D. In 2019, Batman turned 80 years old. First appearing in Detective Comics #27, that famous title hit #1000 back in March. Since his debut, Batman has been a cultural force across multiple medium, whether in the comics that spawned him, the 1960s campy television series, the…
Wealth, Status, and Privilege in Aladdin
By Corey Patterson The long awaited live film adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin hit theaters last month and fans have not been shy about voicing their opinions. Some disgruntled moviegoers claim Will Smith’s CGI Genie doesn’t compare to Robin Williams’ rendition, while others bemoan the vast number of scenes from the original script. Personally, I found the film…
Call for Papers: Jinn and Comics
Volume Editors: Matthew Brake and A. David Lewis This book will be the first in the Claremont Press Religion and Comics series and will bring a wider understanding of Jinn and their representation in comics and graphic novels to a broader audience. The Jinn may be perhaps the most popular Westernized version of (pre-)Islamic cosmology, although many…
X-Men: Dark Phoenix – Everything You Need To Know
This week sees Dark Phoenix landing in cinemas. The movie is so highly anticipated that you’d need Colossus to handle the weight of expectation. It may look like just another comic book flick to the outside world, but fans know the significance of this particular entry, and its impact on Marvel’s big screen exploits in…
Ariana Grande and a Female God
By Elijah Keay “Blasphemy!” is what many Christians are saying concerning Ariana Grande’s song, “God is a Woman.” What makes this worse for some, is that the song and video are infused with images and lyrics that promote feminist messages to its listeners. It’s a song that promotes female empowerment and a disregard for the…
Good Omens and Transformational Eating
By Dr. Meredith J.C. Warren When Good Omens premiered on Amazon Prime at the end of May, the religion and Bible academic twittersphere was delighted. I got a couple of messages from friends and colleagues urging me to watch the first episode — not that I needed much prompting. The early scene depicting the Fall…
15 Million Merits and Human Flourishing
By Elijah Keay Black Mirror When I watched the first episode of Black Mirror, I thought I’d never watch another. I was so disgusted by the gruesomeness of the plot that I missed the point of what the creators of the show were trying to convey. Now, after a few months and a few more…
Faith, Hope, and Love in Daredevil: Born Again
By John Markle In September of 1986, American comic book writer Frank Miller published arguably one of the most well-composed comic books of all time, Daredevil: Born Again. In Daredevil: Born Again, a continuation of Miller’s earlier Daredevil issues, Matthew Murdock, known by few as the heroic Daredevil of Hell’s Kitchen, goes through a spiritual…
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and Creation Care
By Danny Anderson Today, DC comics will bring one of its classic horror characters to its new streaming television service, DC Universe. Swamp Thing will join Titans and Doom Patrol on the fledgling network, adding its unique brand of ecological terror to the network’s growing collection of superheroes. The release offers the theologically-minded fan an…
“The Silent Interviews” and “False Emphasis In The Eradication Of”
Hello everyone! Recently, I (Matt) received an email from a poet named Colin James. He asked if I would be interested in posting a few of his poems on the site, since they have elements of both religion and pop culture in them. I said yes, although I did ask him to provide some commentary…
Call for Papers: René Girard and Pop Culture
This is a call for abstracts for an edited volume in the Theology and Pop Culture series published with Rowman and Littlefieldand edited by Ryan Duns and Derrick Witherington. We are looking for papers that engage and apply the theological insights of René Girard to contemporary culture. Topics Might Include: Mimetic theory and contemplative or…
The Apocalypse and Pop Culture
Hello friends! As many of you who have followed the site know, there are a number of really cool books in the queue for the Theology and Pop Culture series (as George R.R. Martin tells his fans, I promise you, those books are coming!). One of the forthcoming books is on the topic of Eschatology…
Loss and Found: Retribution, Restoration, and Relationships in Avengers: Endgame
By Justin Martin *Warning: major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. Even if there is a small chance, we owe this…to everyone who is not in this room, to try. – Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame (2019) Although Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) officially concludes with Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019), in many ways…
Game of Thrones – The Wall
Hey everyone! A few days ago, the good people over at Other Worlds sent me a video that I think is fitting both in light of the Game of Thrones series finale tonight and in light of the times that we are living in. The video discusses the themes of Otherness, love of neighbor, and…
Avengers Endgame Review
Hey everyone! At this point, Avengers: Endgame is well on its way to dominating box office records, so no doubt many of you have seen it. Danny Anderson of the Sectarian Review podcast invited myself and Nathan Gilmour of the Christian Humanist blog on to discuss our takes on the movie, the character arcs, as…
The Power of Shazam And a New Kind of Family
By Corey Patterson Many longtime DC Comics fans were ecstatic to finally see the beloved Shazam in his self-titled film this year. It’s the breath of fresh air the DC Cinematic Universe needed after the life to the stagnant DC cinematic universe. The box office numbers have been less than stellar (discounting Wonder Woman and Aquaman),…
Batman, the Joker, and Nietzsche’s übermensch: A Discussion with James McGrath and Matthew Brake
Hello friends! A few weeks ago at the Batman conference at Bowling Green State University, which I discuss with some friends here, I presented a panel with James McGrath on the Friedrich Nietzsche’s übermensch. Specifically, James and I discussed, in conversation with a work by our friend Chuck Robertson, who best fits the description of…
ΘeoCon: Call for Submissions 2019
Hello All Theology (and Religion in general) and Pop Culture Lovers! There is no doubt that pop culture mediums have challenged and inspired us in the best of ways. ΘeoCon welcomes you to the place where theology and morality meet pop culture and where faith meets fiction. In a comic-con style venue, ΘeoCon will offer…
Debriefing the Batman Conference
Hello friends! A few weeks ago, I was able to attend a conference at Bowling Green State University celebrating the 80th anniversary of Batman. It was a very fun conference. I presented twice: once on the depiction of evil in Grant Morrison’s Batman run, and on Joker and Nietzsche. While there, I was able to…
