The images that pop up in most people’s heads when they think about superheroes can be traced back to the 1938 debut of Superman and the genre evolution that followed. But it’s possible to go back even further, connecting the Hulk to the ancient epic poem of Gilgamesh, and Batman to 17th Century cross-dressing…

A long time ago, I’d hoped that a children’s cartoon character would be my kid’s entryway into the world of science fiction. But, nope, as much as I wanted it to happen, it was DC Comics’ Legion of Superheroes that helped my kid understand what “the future” means.

I’d been waiting years for my daughter to show an organic interest in superheroes, video games, and the other stuff I write about as a professional nerd. It’s happening, at long last... but it’s taking us to some unexpectedly poignant places.

In 2005, DC Comics was in the middle of a reboot of sorts. The company has a somewhat notorious reputation for reboots and relaunches, but it’s a fairly common practice in today’s modern comic book climate.

Iron Man is basically a death machine. A slick talking, charismatic death machine but a death machine nonetheless. Once Tony Stark straps on that suit of his, absolutely no one—people, aliens, other robots, whoever is nearby—is safe.

Thus far, 2016 is the year of the superhero. Deadpool and Batman v. Superman both shattered the box office, proving that audiences can’t get enough of costumes and powers. But what’s the best superhero movie of all time? And what’s the worst? Here’s our ranking of all 109 superhero movies to date.

A few days ago, many people were shocked—shocked!—at a pair of new studies that found that many Americans have authoritarian tendencies. They want a strong leader, who can sort out “those” people. This went against everything we had lazily chosen to believe about America! But it’s also pretty apparent if you pay any…

In 1992, Bob Newhart was a comedy god. He’d starred in two mega-popular sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, and then he decided to star in a show about a superhero comics artist. The resulting show, BOB!, was a bizarre, high-concept romp about how superheroes were changing in the post-Frank Miller…

We’re just one month away from seeing Batman v. Superman, the long-awaited smackdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel. But if things had turned out differently, we could have seen Batman fight Superman back in 2004. Here’s everything we know about Batman vs. Superman: Asylum, and how it would have been…

If you think it’s tough being the scarred, wise-cracking Deadpool in the world of superheroes and villains, you haven’t heard what writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and the film’s other creators had to go through to make his movie a reality.

This has been a tough year. Pop culture let us down in many ways, even as our political system and our social institutions revealed a deeper seam of ugliness. But speculative fiction still offers us hope: not just optimism about human ingenuity, but actual reasons to look forward and keep our heads up.

Happy Deadpoolmas! There’s a brand new full-length Deadpool trailer, jam-packed with insane violence, ridiculous jokes, fourth-wall-mauling, and totally inappropriate superhero behavior. Plus a redband trailer, feauring all that plus more swearing and sex jokes.

Here’s one of the best moments from last night’s episode of Supergirl. The fight scenes were actually pretty great, and seemed to be done in a way that actually used the show’s low VFX budget to good effect. This moment felt like it borrowed from Chronicle, in a great way. Read on for more of the best and worst…

Marvel and DC have a near-monopoly on superhero comics. They even have a joint copyright on the word “superhero.” But if you’re tired of the endless reboots, crossovers and revamps, then there’s an alternative. Valiant Comics has been kicking all kinds of ass lately.

Actually, there are a LOT of ways that Star Wars could troll its fans, and audiences in general. Almost a whole galaxy’s worth of ways, in fact. But commenter Sean Kelley hit on a great one.

How will Marvel’s Phase Three movies manage to top the spectacle of Phase Two? We just got our first glimpse at D23. Marvel just showed us the first footage from Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange—the latter of which hasn’t even started filming yet.

Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four has been getting hammered this weekend—at the box office, by critics, and by audiences. The question everyone’s asking is: was the material bad from the get-go? Or did studio interference make this a bomb before it was even filmed?

Superhero movies have tried hard to leave behind some of their Silver Age comic-book trappings in the past decade. We’ve seen darker, grimmer versions of Superman and other heroes—but the new Fantastic Four reboot goes beyond darkness, into actual self-loathing. It’s kind of bizarre.