Important Life Lessons We Can All Learn From The Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, without a doubt, a cultural phenomenon. This year alone, it’s cinematic entries Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War have earned the studio a cool $3.24 billion US and both of those films are still in movie theatres making money even now. But while the cinematic titan has made us whoop, cheer, laugh and cry into our popcorn a whole lot since its inception with the first Iron Man 10 years ago (can you believe it’s already been a decade) the films have also brought us something more meaningful. Scratch the surface, look past the witty quips, one liners, action set pieces and digital effects and you’ll see that the films have actually taught us some important life lessons, both in their own universe and the real world.

Comics have always been more than just disposable media for cheap entertainment, they’ve been an instructive moral tool for entire generations. The movies based on those very comics hold true to that tradition, giving us life lessons even as we are wowed by the engaging plots and awesome visuals. Here are just a few of the life lessons we can all learn from the MCU…

If you can’t prevent injustice, you can avenge it

“If we can’t protect the Earth”, Tony Stark told the mischievous Loki in 2012’s The Avengers, “you can be damn sure we’ll avenge it!”. It’s a cool sound bite but there’s a moral lesson to be learned here. As much as we might try and protect our family or friends from harm or wrongdoing, even if they fall victim to injustice that doesn’t mean you should resign yourself to inaction. If you lose somebody or are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence you should visit www.seekingjustice.com to make a claim against them. If your child has been bullied at school, you can’t undo it, but you can get in touch with the school to stop it from happening again.

If you can’t fix your faults, learn to live with them

We all have our faults and foibles from biting our nails to overeating. When we first meet Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk he’s desperately trying to find a cure to eliminate his green skinned alter ego. However, by the time we get to the recent Avengers films he’s far more resigned and at peace with his darker half. Instead of wasting time trying to fix his problem, he instead focuses his efforts on preventing The Hulk from harming innocent people.

Never give up hope

It’s telling that Hank Pym named his daughter Hope. In Ant-Man we learned that Pym’s wife Janet Van Dyne was lost (apparently forever) in the quantum realm when a mission went bad in the mid ‘80s. Despite his efforts, Pym never manage to find her but he still never gave up hope. As we will see Janet return to the screen as played by Michelle Pfeiffer later this year in Ant-Man & The Wasp this just goes to show that you must never give up hope.

Finally… Always believe in yourself

When marvel began their cinematic universe experiment back in 2006 they didn’t have the rights to the more profitable money spinners in the Marvel comics stable. They didn’t have access to the likes of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Punisher or the X-Men which were proven commodities with audiences. Nonetheless, they believed in themselves and the Marvel characters and established a studio that became a powerhouse.

How could you take that self belief and apply it to your life?

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Shahbaz Malik

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