We’re in the middle of a superhero movie craze. It started with remakes of superhero movies like the Dark Knight in 2008 and is continuing with the upcoming movies like Captain America: Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this year, and even The Avengers 2 in 2015.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the movies and the ambition behind them. But I’m getting tired of the advertising: these repetitive movie posters. Taking a closer inspection the movie posters are functioning in a pretty obvious way.
Sean Hall, in his book This Means This. This Means That outlines the many ways that viewers judge an image. As he explains, “the forms of placement tell us what is most important to the producer in terms of communication” (89). So what do the producers of movie posters want us to know about the movie, about the superhero? If you think about audience perspective, the viewer can only see the movie poster from one angle: directly from the front. They can control exactly what we see.
Let’s look at some of the features of posters.
First, nearly every poster places the superhero in the dead center of the poster. The center is the most important place, “the thing that is seen to prevail over that which surrounds it” compared to the marginal objects (98). In this case, the marginal objects are the rest of the city, like the buildings that surround Batman as makes a leap in his Batpod. In the case of the Iron Man posters, it’s a handful of enemies and supporting characters that float somewhere around his shoulders in the background. All of this points to the superheroes importance – basically, that the superhero of the movie is going to be the main character and the one the viewer identifies with, along with numerous other reasons.
Photo credit: Splatter.com
Photo credit: sci-fimovieposters.co.uk
Similarly, the hero is closest to the viewer out of the other images. No matter what is shown in the background, the superhero makes up the definitive foreground. This has the same effect of being in the center because everything is geared around the hero.
Third, the hero is “larger than life” – that is, depicted much larger than other people and his surroundings. When the superhero is looking down, the viewer is essentially looking up to the hero. The superhero gains more power from this position, since being higher is generally a place of superiority. He becomes a role model. The hero’s skills, his aspirations, and his very identity become something to look up to, no matter what the personal morality of the viewer is.
An interesting note is that the most idealized object is placed at the top of the image. It isn’t too much of a stretch to compare these images of superheroes to gods. God is always at the top of his images, at the front and center of whatever else is marginalized. The superheroes are effectively the gods of their small worlds. Pretty true. Batman holds the city together by himself without the credit. Captain America single-handedly brings down one of the most powerful men in World War II (according to the movie, anyway).
All in all, it’s a good setup that sucks the viewer into the world of the superhero, setting him or her up to believe in the hero’s power. It’s predetermined after the viewer sees the poster that the hero will not fail, or will come out triumphant no matter the cost. The posters that show the hero involved in some kind of heroic action while also the focus of the poster only emphasize their heroic nature.
All we need now is a new way to advertise movies, so we don’t need the same thing every time.
Source:
Hall, Sean. “Visual Structures.” This Means This. This Means That: A User’s Guide to Semiotics. London: Laurence King, 2007. 89-108. Print.
Don't Worry, Be Mappy 
Save for the Captain America poster, every poster that features a woman shows her clutching at the hero’s breast, as if she’s seeking his protection (which I’m sure was intended all long: be a muscular guy, get the girl). To highlight how ridiculously movie posters sexualize women, this artist drew The Avengers promotional poster with all the male heroes posing like Black Widow . Makes you wonder how prominently Wonder Woman will appear on the poster for the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, and how (or if at all?).
She probably will appear, at least for the sex appeal. That poster is hilarious! It really shows how much women are stereotyped in these types of movies.
I think the Hulk looks dead sexy there.
Though it gives new meaning to the phrase “Hulk smash!”
I really liked the connection to how God is portrayed in paintings. The poster Wayne referenced is a good one, and the re-portrayal was necessary. There is some criticism for the Black Widow poster for the new Cap movie, too. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/31/scarlett-johansson-captain-american-winter-soldier-poster_n_4702218.html The idealization obviously happens to the romantic interests, and you have to wonder what they makers are saying about the audience they expect to get.