Drawing on theorized fundamental human freedoms, Social Cognitive Domain Theory, and Christian philosophy, the chapter highlights how beliefs about the nature of reality animate Grant Morrison’s New X-Men.

Drawing on Social Cognitive Domain Theory and Christian philosophy, the chapter explores the centrality of Daredevil’s understanding of and response to the distinction between the letter and spirit of the law.

Explores how the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas, as told in X-Men: The Animated Series demonstrate how beliefs can inform people’s morally-relevant treatment of others. Highlights the roles of ambiguity and disagreement in understanding Jean Grey’s superhero mission.

Constructivist analyses of Black Panther, Luke Cage, and Bishop help reveal some of the ways superheroes, despite their consistent motivations and frequent predictability (e.g., in terms of the motivations of many of their villains, use of violence, etc.), are both socially responsive to and adaptive within their differing social contexts. They are embedded in varied social interactions and relationships–an embeddedness that has implications for both pedagogy and scholarship.

Both of these features [separating moral from nonmoral understandings of social interactions and applying those understandings to complex situations]...are suggested through Mr. Freeze’s motivations to use cryogenics to save and improve people’s lives, his sense of unjust treatment, his sometimes selective use of harm, and his expressions of vulnerability….Therefore…we can learn a little something about ourselves through villains like Mr. Freeze.

These features are explored through analyses rooted in three distinct disciplines and applied to three superheroes whose narratives are often rooted in the communities in which they live: sociology (Daredevil and Hell’s Kitchen), psychology (Black Panther and Wakanda), and citizenship education (Batman and Gotham).

Van der Ven suggests the role of subjective interpretations should be accounted for when thinking about how people may experience morally laden situations and the conflicting moral interpretations that may  result….Applied to TWD, it is possible for individuals who vary in their assumptions or beliefs about the post-zombie world to interpret the same morally laden act differently.

Unlike his American superhero counterparts (such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man) who can operate solely as protectors and sometimes avengers of their e solely as protectors and sometimes avengers of their city, the country, or the world without also being responsible for addressing the various perspectives of its inhabitants, T'Challa does not have that luxury.