Be More
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[SPOILERS for Avengers Infinity War below]
We Could Be Heroes
Batman. Superman. Spider-Man. These were my heroes growing up. You would usually find me sporting a costume of one of these legends growing up. Living on Kent Street in Colorado, it was in some ways appropriate, in others not so much that I would run down the street in a blue shirt and pants with red underwear on the outside. A makeshift costume with a cape was all I needed to be Superman. More than anything, I wanted to be a superhero.
What draws us to superheroes?
Superheroes inspire us to be more. I think that’s why it’s so important that every kid has a hero. Which is why Black Panther was huge for a lot of kids to see a hero that looked like them. I saw this kid from Queens who did homework and struggled to keep a job and didn’t have it all. But he looked like me. So I knew I could be something someday.
Iron Man was Cai’s hero. He holds the record of being the costume of choice for 3 different Halloweens. Cai was only one years old when Tony Stark became a household name in 2008. I had Batman. Cai had Iron Man. We saw with Tony Stark that a man who lived his whole life making his enemies successful, could be a different person and change the world. Anyone could do great things. Tony knew he could do more. That he could be more. Then what started in a cave led to the Avengers who would stand up and fight against the threats against seemingly insurmountable odds.
“There was an idea…to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.”
When Iron Man brought Spider-Man into the fold, I could see Cai in Peter Parker. Peter was as big an Iron Man fan as anyone. Even Spider-Man has a hero. Tony was exactly what Peter needed. Tony has been through the hero’s journey. He sees himself in Peter and knew that he could be a guide for Peter on his journey.
Tony Stark: What if somebody had died?
Peter Parker: I was just trying to be like you.
Tony Stark: I wanted you to be better. I’m gonna need the suit back.
Peter Parker: But I’m nothing without this suit!
Tony Stark: If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.
The Making of a Hero
I’ve never understood people that say that have “superhero fatigue.” They’re tired of all these big blockbuster movies being about heroes. James Cameron recently stated he’s ready for these Avengers films to be over, while he works on his 4 Avatar sequels. So a couple movies a year is too much, but no western fatigue, horror fatigue, hard R comedy fatigue. The thing is, most great stories are about heroes. They just don’t always have a cape or fly around using their hands and feet.
The one thing that defines superheroes isn’t what they can do. Their powers or cool gadgets. It’s what they are willing to give up. We all look to heroes because they give up everything, even their lives, to save others. By doing so, they become more.
This weekend as I watched the culmination of 18 movies over 10 years in Avengers Infinity War, it’s hard not to see that at the heart of the movie was sacrifice. We see 4 key scenes where we lose characters we’ve loved for years, all of them in acts of courage and selflessness.
[Again, SPOILERS for Infinity War below…]
Heimdall
After Thanos kills half of Asgard, Heimdall, Thor’s best friend who aided him through all his adventures sacrifices himself to send Hulk down to earth to warn the Avengers of the coming conflict. He didn’t hesitate to make his life count to save others. Without him, no one would have been ready for Thanos’ arrival.
Loki
The God of Mischief went out using his best asset to try and show Thanos’ allegiance. The first attempt distracted him enough to call Hulk onto him. “We have a Hulk.” The second attempt he comes putting it all on the line, remembering as he looks to Thor who he really was, the son of Odin. Thanos’ was prepared as Loki lunges with a dagger to his throat. Grabbing him by the neck and squeezing the life out of him, this man we once saw as a villain whispers with his last breath “You’ll never be a god.” As we see his body thrown at Thor’s feet, we see a hero who found redemption in sacrifice.
Vision
At the beginning of the movie Vision asks Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlett Witch, to look into the Mind Stone to see what he’s feeling. “I only feel you” she tells him. As Thanos’ comes to Wakanda after the final battle to get the last stone, they both know she is the only one powerful enough to destroy it, knowing that meant he would have to die. In her heartbreak, before she puts all she has into breaking the stone, Vision tells her “You can’t hurt me. I only feel you.” Without hesitation, he sacrificed himself and she lost everything. She shatters the stone destroying her love and everything that mattered to her. Then she had to live through Thanos reversing time to get the stone back out of Vision, ruthlessly leaving a hole in his android head, wires exposed, as life and color left him, dead on the ground.
Gamora
“You have to promise me you’ll kill me if Thanos gets me.” Gamora tells Star Lord, knowing that Thanos would seek her out for the location of the Soul Stone. When the time came, Star Lord through tears, fulfilling his promise pulls the trigger only to have bubbles come out. He knew he had to sacrifice who he loved to stop Thanos. But was unsuccessful.
Thanos’ Sacrifice
Even the villain had to make a sacrifice to be what he thought was a hero. For the greater good. When Thanos comes to where the Soul Stone is led by Gamora after torturing her sister Nubula, he’s told there is a sacrifice the Soul Stone demands. He has to give up what he loves the most. Tears stream down his face. When Red Skull tells her the tears are not for him, she attempts to take her own life. Thanos’ grabs his “favorite” daughter’s hand, similar to what we saw when he first found her as a child, this time leading her to her death instead of life.
Thanos: Daughter.
Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes.
Gamora: What did it cost?
Thanos: …Everything.
These Stories Need to Be Told
We all want our lives to count for something greater than ourselves. That’s why I love these stories. I love seeing Steve Rogers jump on a fake grenade trying to protect those around him. I love seeing Tony Stark fly into a wormhole with a nuke to take out an alien invasion. I love seeing Yondu put a shield around Star Lord to keep him alive giving up his life. I love seeing Groot put a branch bubble around the Guardians as Rocket says “Groot, what are you doing? You’re going to die.” Then hearing words that somehow say it all “We are Groot.”
Peter followed Tony to the end. As hard as Tony tried to keep him safe, Peter followed him into space on a ship he knew he probably wouldn’t return from. Because he knew it’s what a hero does, because he saw it in Tony. In a heartbreaking moment, we see Peter fall in Tony’s arms as he fades away, a scared kid looking to his hero to save him.
“Help me Mr. Stark. I don’t want to go…please…I don’t want to go. I’m sorry Mr. Stark.”
Peter gave everything because he wanted to be like Tony. A man who only cared about himself when we first met him. But saw that he could be more. Peter knew he could be more and he knew the cost. Those heroes are worth following.
These are the stories I want my son to hear. These are the heroes I want him to aspire to. This is what I want to look like for him.
