My life over the past few years has been like a combination of experiences from Doctor Strange, Thor, and the Hulk in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies. I saw the Doctor Strange parallels several years ago. This was the easiest of the three for me to notice as I relate to Doctor Strange more than any other character in the MCU. We’re both smart, have great memories, are good at what we do, and went through a life-changing event that broke us and forced us to do things way differently (for both of us, part of that change involved gradually getting into spirituality). The changes we made helped us overcome our demons (arrogance, disregard for the feelings of others, wanting to always be right, striving to be the best due to fear of failure, and so on) and get closer to our potential as well as our life purposes.
More recently, I realized that there are also a lot of similarities between myself and the Hulk. There was the smart, analytical, and reserved side of Bruce Banner along with the strong, angry, and childlike side of the Hulk. Those two sides were constantly at war for control and neither of them liked or wanted anything to do with the other. When one was in control, the other was totally ineffective. In Avengers: Endgame, they managed to reconcile with each other and become whole. As a result, they had the intelligence and personality of Bruce Banner along with the strength and power of the Hulk at all times. There was a great sense of peace from that unity and the cessation of the inner civil war. I’ve experienced that same peace as I’ve done more shadow work and gotten better at reconciling aspects of myself that I had spent most of my life fighting. As is the case with Bruce Banner and the hulk, all the work I’ve done toward becoming whole has been well worth it.
Then there’s Thor. In Thor: Ragnarok, he lost his father Odin, his best friends, his hammer Mjolnir, and his homeworld of Asgard. Then in Avengers: Infinity War, he lost Loki and many of the surviving Asgardians. On top of all that, he was unable to stop Thanos from wiping out half of all life in the universe later in the same movie. This was in addition to the other losses he suffered in a number of other MCU movies. As a result, during Avengers: Endgame, he fell into a state of deep depression, lost all hope, and suffered for a long time. What got him out of that state was seeing that he was still worthy to wield his hammer and having a conversation with his mother that restored his hope and gave him the will to continue his mission despite his struggles. I was in a similar state of hopelessness and depression for most of this year in response to everything that I’ve lost since March. Just like with Thor, I didn’t start feeling better until I started remembering who I was and began intentionally working through my emotions. Even though that hasn’t brought back anything that I’ve lost, it has given me more peace than I’ve had in a long time. The knowledge that I can continue working through my emotions and that I don’t have to be held down or held back by anything from my past, whether good or bad, is incredibly liberating.
I enjoy finding parallels between superhero movies and experiences in my life. Doing so helps me better understand and articulate things such as shadow work, self-love, transcending difficult situations, and working through unwanted emotions. It’s also useful for quickly and effectively illustrating some relatively obscure concepts. I’m sure I’ll find more parallels as I continue watching superhero movies and working on myself. I hope you found this interesting and were able to use it to find ways to incorporate these good practices into your life.