Marvel Mania has absolutely taken over our house!

Up until the past year or so, I had never really had any interest in superheroes at all. In fact, I thought they were all a bit daft. Graham watched the odd one, but was never particularly bothered by them, and the kids were too young. Now, we are all more than a little bit obsessed with the Marvel superheroes,

I can’t put my finger on when it started. I think one of the Spiderman films staring Tobey Maguire was on the movie channels, and there was nothing else on. The kids were hooked, and I found myself drawn in. Within days, we had watched them all, and had a TiVo box full of films – The Marvel Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Spiderman…and we loved them. I know some people may not necessarily agree with a 2 year old and a 4 year old watching the films as there is some violence in them – but we are perfectly happy with that. They may be young but they know the difference between superheroes on TV and real life.

Alex is probably the most obsessed with them. He would and sit watch Marvels Avengers on repeat if he could, and tells everyone he is the Hulk. He walks around shouting ‘Hulk Smash’ and gets incredibly excited when he sees him on the film. At the moment he will only eat his breakfast from some tiny plastic bowls with the Avengers characters on at the bottom – and he’s eating it all just so he can see Captain America or Iron Man when he has finished. It’s definitely encouraging him to eat! The only problem we have is with him calling everyone a puny god – this scene has him in hysterics:

I have no idea what it is about them. There’s all the psychology about it empowering people and giving them confidence and courage. Maybe there’s something in that. Most of the films we watch have some sort of sense of reality to them, and once in a while it is great to completely lose yourself in something that doesn’t.

What do you think? Do you like superheroes? If you do, which is your favourite?