From the PBS Idea Channel:
The past 15 years have produced a pantsload of superhero films. It’s hard to even remember a time before Batman, Spiderman, and Captain America dominated the summer box office. So are movie studios just lazy and out of ideas? Or is something else going on? Superheroes are authority figures who put their world in order. They are ALSO the products of the culture from which they originate. So what does it say about our cultural state of affairs that we willingly consume 6+ superhero flicks a year? Watch the episode and find out!