Marvel Movies: A Less Legitimate Literary Culture?

Theatre and cinema are two artistic forms that both rely on scripts, dialogue, and performance 
to convey emotions, narratives, and ideas. However, they are not equally regarded in terms of 
their literary value, even though in form they remain essentially the same. While theatre has 
historically been celebrated as a refined and intellectual art, cinema especially mainstream 
franchises such as Marvel films are often dismissed as a product of mass culture with limited 
literary depth. This opposition raises a fundamental question: is there a true literary hierarchy 
between stage and screen? Marvel is often viewed as a form of subculture, despite its global 
popularity and commercial success. This is highlighted in a Vice article “Sorry, but Marvel 
Movies Aren't Art”, that it is generally considered much less legitimate compared to other art 
forms and literature, particularly theater, which enjoys deep-rooted institutional recognition 
and legitimacy. This emphasizes the idea that Marvel may not be as legitimate as theater, but 
instead occupies a middle ground, positioned between popular culture and more prestigious, 
literary art. This project aims to explore whether such distinctions are grounded in textual 
reality or if they merely confirm popular beliefs and long-standing cultural prejudices.