As a new school year gets underway, a new campus club has been created that centers around the Marvel fandom.
The Capital MCU Club will be showcasing all of the Marvel films in the cinematic universe. The movies will be watched in chronological order, so Captain America: The First Avenger will be first up on the viewing list.
The club was started by Ethan Browning, a third-year Biology and Political Science major.
“It has been a dream of mine to start a Marvel club at Capital ever since I found out that we could start our own clubs,” Browning said.
The club organized a tabling event to gather sign-ups, which resulted in 39 people joining.
Each movie screening will be followed by a discussion of the movie’s themes and the overall impact on the audience. The MCU Club will show that superhero movies aren’t necessarily mindless action, but actually contain deeper messages.
For decades, comics have been a popular medium for providing social commentary. Take for example the X-Men, which is said to have been inspired by the Civil Rights Movement.
“Marvel heroes have stories of hope, of upliftment,” Browning said. “There are stories of social justice, analogies of social justice, and like most escapist literature, it offers a lot of mental and emotional health benefits.”
Food and beverages are expected to be served, but it depends on how much money the SCE approves for the club’s budget. Regardless, Browning plans to have beverages available at the very least.
On top of their regular screenings on campus, the MCU club is hoping to use their budget to host theater trips as new Marvel movies come out, but with COVID-19 concerns still present, those plans are tentative.
With the launch of the Marvel exhibit at COSI on Nov. 26, Browning is also hoping to put together a field trip for the club.
For those interested in attending MCU Club events, check Engage or the Corq app for any upcoming movie nights, which are planned for Mondays at 9 p.m. For those that can’t make it in-person, a Zoom meeting link will be available.
