This book presents a look of faith to stories of Marvel superheroes

What do spider man and captain America with biblical figures such as Moses or San Pablo? For the Mexican Jesuit priest Sergio Guzmán, much more than it seems. This is what he raises in his book The superheroes in search of meaning. A look of faith to Marvel moviesa work that seeks to dialogue with young people through popular culture.

In an interview with ACI Press, Fr. Guzmán explained that the book was written with the intention of “dialogue with adolescents about faith, about what gives their meaning and guidance to our life”, and that fundamental issues such as identity and mission are addressed. Topics that, he says, “can be answered with the help of Marvel superheroes, biblical characters and with Jesus’ proposal that we find in the Gospel.”

The priest ensures that his book, originally published in 2016, has been well received by the young public. “Many young people and adolescents liked in dialogue with popular culture reflected in Marvel films liked it,” he says.

Jesus: “God incarnate” and not a superhero

In their pages, parallels between superheroes and biblical characters such as Abraham, Moses, Pedro, Paul or prophets such as Jeremiah and Amós are explored. However, Fr. Guzmán emphasizes that Jesus occupies a unique and incomparable place, since “it is the Messiah, the Son of God, God incarnate made man and is not a superhero.”

Despite this distinction, it emphasizes that some of the characters that can be found in films and cartoons can “find many human and Christian values ​​that Jesus has communicated to us” such as responsibility, justice, collaboration, among others.

“Many young people today are not interested in faith, religion, go to Mass or pray.

Fr. Guzmán considers fundamental “dialogue with young people from their culture, with what they read, listen or come in the cinema.” In that line, he regularly criticizes Pixar’s films, Harry Potter, Disney’s classics and is preparing a new book about Star Wars.

“My books have been well received and many young people have given me good feedback that have helped me to grow in faith and get more excited about Jesus and his life project,” he shared.

The new edition of his book went on sale at the beginning of the year and can be found in the bookstores of Good press or on several platforms in your Digital version.