It is the most popular film genre of the moment, and everyone has an opinion about it, whether it’s in the pub, in a café, or at universities.

Etienne F. Augé and Barry W. Fitzgerald crossed paths during a panel on superheroes at Erasmus University in Rotterdam a few years back. Barry is a physicist, Etienne a historian. And both of them are big fans of superheroes.

In Superheroes, they combine their scientific and historian powers in search of the ultimate answers to the key themes within this vast film genre. What is a superhero? What are the ethical dilemmas within the genre? How realistic is the science of superheroes? And what is the future of the superhero?