Is Capepunk Tropeworthy?

Cape Punk is a trope for Super Hero Deconstructions. The thing is, there are so many different ways to deconstruct the Super Hero genre that it doesn't seem like there is a coherent genre. You could deconstruct the corporate culture behind superheroes (The Boys (2019)), the morality of superheroes (Watchmen), or how someone would be affected psychologically after getting superpowers (Chronicle). The only thing these works have in common is that they are superhero fiction that takes a Darker and Edgier approach to the genre.

I mean, The Boys hits those other two concepts as well. Most of the superheroes are incredibly morally corrupt, and many are damaged by their powers (trying to use them well, trying to stand out, etc).

Fair point, but I still think this trope is broadly defined. Here are some examples:

• The Incredibles touches on this, as once-active superheroes were forced to retire due to lawsuits over damages caused by their fights. It also takes a look at the thought that would have to go into superhero costumes to ensure they're effective. ("No capes!") The movie as a whole deals with what it means to be "special", both in terms of superpowers and in the mundane sense.

• The Marvel Cinematic Universe also puts some work into making superheroes work in a "real-world" context:
  • The Iron Man movies used real-life science to justify many of the figure's traditional gadgets. Likewise, the films serve as deconstructions of many The War on Terror tropes as well as the kind of attention such a figure would garner. The third one also portrayed Tony Stark dealing with PTSD from the literally world-changing events of The Avengers (2012).
  • Captain America: The First Avenger, on the other hand, starts off idealistic but quickly devolves into a deconstruction in the side moments that show that Steve has no life outside of being Captain America. He has few friends, the love of his life Peggy Carter is now in her 90s and close to death, he has basically no hobbies beyond physical exercise, and he is a Super-Soldier who defines himself by the battles he's fighting. He is sad, and lonely, and even the people that he calls friends are his actual working partners (or become such). No wonder, then, that at the end of Avengers: Endgame, he walks away from it all in order to have a normal life with a younger Peggy Carter, one of the only people he ever truly loved, in an Alternate Timeline.
  • Most superhuman origins can be traced back to some kind of Super-Soldier project that was deliberately attempting to create a better kind of defender (in the case of the heroes) or enforcer (when the bad guys were making one).
  • As more supervillains crop up, the Superhero Paradox becomes more prevalent. Captain America: Civil War (a rough adaptation of the comic of the same name) tackles it head-on, as the heroes' conflicts have caused inevitable bystander fatalities, which leads to calls for government regulation and the heroes themselves are divided on whether this is a good idea or not.
  • Although it shows up more in the TV spinoffs than the films themselves, some people have begun to respond to the emergence of superhumans with Fantastic Racism.

It seems weird saying that The Incredibles is in the same boat as The Boys (2019) or Chronicle just because it deconstructs some aspects of the superhero genre. I wouldn't even say that The Incredibles is a Darker and Edgier take on the superhero genre.

There is an identity crisis with the trope. The definition is largely focused on superhero deconstruction, but the name is implying it is associated with the various "punk" genres, which are unified under ideas of technology and society. Broad superhero deconstruction is not very interesting to me (deconstruction is an overused term across the wiki) but a work that focuses on how superpowers and superheroes change the technology and society of the setting feels more distinctive.

Would My Hero Academia fit that bill? The emergence of Quirks prior to the start of the series caused massive societal upheaval and technological regression (despite taking place in the future, technological advancements compared to our world are focused mainly on individual quirk enhancement and management rather than advancing the human race), the Hero System is portrayed as flawed, and many heroes are corrupt. Things aren't as screwed as they are in The Boys, but it leans a bit more into the deconstruction aspects than The Incredibles does.

Edited by badtothebaritone on Sep 22nd 2022 at 9:21:30 AM

Agreed. The name is probably related to the gradual dilution of -punk genres from thematic to aesthetic.

My inclination is that relatively optimistic works like the Incredibles or MCU shouldn't be classified as Capepunk. Along those lines, I feel like even if the definition is tightened to "examining how the existence of superpowers affects society" to better fit what the -punk suffix should mean, it could still incorporate relatively optimistic works that I'd have trouble accepting as fitting the bill. Which makes it sound like my view of the genre is "superheroes but Darker and Edgier", which is The Same, but More, so maybe I should shut up now.

Edited by MorganWick on Sep 23rd 2022 at 3:51:19 AM

I get the idea but I don't know if optimism, or lack of, is a big factor. I don't think the MCU really fits either but that's because the focus of those films are more on individuals and their influence on that world, rather than how the world is different because of the existence of superheroes/superpowers.