The Stuff of Super Heroes

“That little bit of sadness in the mornings you spoke of? I think I know what that is. Perhaps you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”
the movie Unbreakable (2000)

Unbreakable gets lost in the recent spike in superhero movies: Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, Hancock, The Fantastic Four, Superman—even Laura Croft. Admittedly, part of the problem is that Unbreakable was released more than 8 years ago and was the follow-up to writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s wildly acclaimed The Sixth Sense. If you haven’t seen Unbreakable, the movie focuses on David Dunn–a man who has never been sick, never been hurt, the only survivor of a horrific train wreck, and who can bench press a ton of weight. Even though all the signs are there, he never, not once, stops to wonder if he has been created to be more than a security guard. Instead, like the man by the pool at Bethesda, he is content to greet each day the same, allowing today to flow seamlessly and effortless into tomorrow (John 5:4ff). What we come to find out—what David does not know—is that David Dunn is a superhero cut from the same cloth as the ones mentioned above, yet he has never donned a cape, attempted a rescue, searched his heart, been touched with passion, or even tried to fly.

Have you stopped to wonder why these superhero movies are so successful? Really, the plot lines are fairly consistent, yet the lines at the box office aren’t getting any shorter. It could be that we sense a greater calling on our own lives; that we’re all struggling to find the superhero dwelling within and we allow ourselves—maybe even prefer—to be satisfied watching superhero-ness played out on the screen. Scripture can support this reaction to that “little bit of sadness”.

You are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6)

You are God’s “work of art,” created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10)

You’ve been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

Christ Himself is in you (Colossians 1:27)

You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

The truth is, yes, we are more than tainted by the fall and Original Sin. We cannot begin to fathom what was lost, but neither can we begin to fathom what we have to re-gain. And maybe the taint resulting from the events of Genesis 3 and the stain of sin—as true as this is—do not represent what is “truest” about us.

Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God delights in us with shouts of joy. God delights in us—even the messes we make. He is cheering for us. He has created each of us “fearfully” and “wonderfully”, but I wonder how many of us live as such. Our days represents God’s curriculum of life and every day brings with it another opportunity to find the superhero within.