It’s interesting – I think superheroes get much more unfair derision. There are so many good superhero books being done. Science fiction is almost more reputable, I guess, at least a step up from poor superheroes.

It’s not just superheroes that make a story great.

Sometimes I feel like, those superheroes, if you threw a cookie at them, they would be more terrified than the villain because they might have to eat a carbohydrate.

I’ve always hated superheroes. I cannot stand them. I love Norse mythology, but I hate superheroes. They ruined movies, then comics, and now games.

As a child, these colourful superheroes that could fly, or were horrifying like Ghost Rider and the Hulk, with this tremendous rage or these supernatural powers, provided an escape for me from my mundane existence, from my lack of friends or my inability to communicate well with people. They liberated me.

Most superheroes are young or in their 20s, and as you can see with Black Lightning, he‘s in his mid-40s and he has a family, so that affects you a bit differently as opposed to being a young, single superhero.

Writing about conflict has provided these dramatic opportunities to talk about really substantial moments in a person‘s life. I’m not writing about superheroes; I’m writing about ordinary people.

I cannot stand superheroes. I do not understand any of its appeal. It has just bored me to death since I was a little kid.

My ‘Black Panther‘ run really wasn’t about Black Panther. It was about Ross. It was about exploding myths about black superheroes, black characters, and black people, targeted specifically at a white, male-dominated retailer base.

Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman and was one of the first female superheroes. It gives me more of an encouragement that we can be strong and can do whatever a guy can do.

I grew up watching the old ‘Batman‘ shows, the ‘Batman’ cartoon, and the ‘X-Men’ cartoon was on when I was little. I was always surrounded by superheroes.

In Mexico, wrestling is part of the cultural fabric. The guys wear masks and they are real-life superheroes.

As it turned out, if you look at the history, everything in superhero comic books pretty much lies between Superman and Batman: Superman being the greatest superhero there is, and Batman being the one of the few superheroes who has no superpowers and is, in fact, not a superhero.

I don’t like darkness in everything. I like my superheroes in primary colors, and fun.

You know how the Marvel Comics superheroes formed themselves into the Justice League of America – Batman, Flash and the rest. Why did Superman join? He never needed any help.

We have always looked upon Hollywood superheroes like Super-Man and Spider-man, but Baahubali is our own Indian superhero, and the connection people have made with this franchise is unprecedented.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Under its influence, ordinary songs take on dimensions and powers, like emotional superheroes.

Superwoman is one of those superheroes that knows her power and is very comfortable in her power.

Most superheroes are painted with a specific moral objective that makes them who they are. And that moral objective influences everything they do, so there’s an expectation for what you’re going to see out of a certain character.

Usually superheroes with all their powers and action-driven narratives are supposed to appeal to boys and men more than women; and as an extension of that, it is a given that the creators of these characters are primarily men.

I’m a weird dichotomy of nerd, sports fan, and musical theater, so I’d love to do a superhero musical on Broadway. But all the good superheroes are claimed.

I always had this fascination with superheroes. Who didn’t love Hulk and Spider-Man?

Aaron Taylor–Johnson and John Cena, in ‘The Wall,’ are superheroes. They’re very grounded, but the amount of training and stuff that soldiers bring to the field, they’re like Iron Man.

There are things you have to look at with those world-class players, but at the end of the day, they’re not superheroes. They’re still human.

When I got the script for ‘Winter Soldier,’ I was so excited to see that my character finally gets to punch somebody! So I took tae kwon do three times a week. I wanted to feel like I could hold my own in a roomful of superheroes.

It’s important to for your kids to see themselves in their superheroes. Really, it’s important for all of us.

I’ve gone through various periods with superheroes. They work in the right hands, but they don’t work in other hands. It’s tricky. But any movie is tricky. It’s impossible to say, ‘This is what you do in any situation.’

I grew up reading ‘2000 AD’ and the occasional Transformers and GI Joe comic, but when I could finance comics myself, I lasted only a little reading superheroes.

I’m uninterested in superheroes. I am only interested in real stories, real people, real connection.

What I love about superheroes, and Superwoman in particular, is that in that comics world, they’re all curvaceous. They’re strong.

It may be that a majority of superheroes are white males. But that’s because they used to all be white males, except for Wonder Woman and Black Canary and maybe one or two others. Now there are Spanish, Puerto Rican comic book superheroes, black superheroes, and women superheroes.

The world is yearning for more inclusion, because we’re not living in 1930 where we’ve got X amount of superheroes and X amount of representation.

Ultimately, so many things come down to money, but particularly when it comes to superheroes – people really thought that only men loved action movies and only men would go see a superhero movie.

I often find that superheroes are the bachelors or the billionaires – and everyone loves them. Peter Parker is basically the complete opposite. I just think that’s what a lot of kids feel like as they’re growing up.

Superheroes don’t often get their powers in one fell swoop. It’s like superhero puberty.

I am very big into superheroes.

I think the fact that ‘Black Lightning,’ ‘Luke Cage‘ and ‘Black Panther’ have each made noise in their own way will only lead to different superheroes and different genres.

To a degree, the Greek and Roman mythological heroes are just the first superheroes. They appeal to children for much the same reason. These gods and heroes may have powers, but they get angry and they do the wrong thing. They are human too.

In my entire life, I’d wondered why there were no superheroes out there that looked like me.

There’s always a need for new superheroes. As society changes, the types of superheroes will probably change as well.

Everybody loves superheroes, and so to be associated with a superhero forever is just kind of like, that’s where the goalposts are. That’s kind of, ‘Bam, you’re immortalized!’

I do feel like ‘The Dark Knight’ is a great film, but that Batman in there? He’s almost like Robocop to me. He’s almost robotic looking; he’s got this surgical approach to everything… He’s almost not human. That’s supposed to be his whole point: he’s supposed to be the most human of superheroes.

In a way, Captain America is the most grounded of the main Marvel superheroes. He is basically just a man, only more so. He doesn’t fly across the sky like Iron Man. He isn’t from another world like Thor. He doesn’t turn into a green monster.

I don’t believe in superheroes but I love Batman movies. There’s a part of every person that is entertained by the idealistic, the fantastic.

I understand the rules of Superman – not necessarily better than anyone else – but better than a normal filmmaker would. After doing ‘Watchmen‘ and digging that deep into the why of superheroes, when Superman is presented to you, I felt like I was in a unique position to say ‘I get this guy. I know what this is.’

Girls actually need superheroes much more than boys.

I’ve always been drawn to the more antihero superheroes.

As children, we all hold on to the myth of omnipotence. Comics are successful because kids identify with superheroes. They’ll read a book or watch a TV programme and say, ‘I’m that guy.’ And that guy is always the one in control.

As far as someone who I would like to work with – this is super out of the box, and I have put this on my Twitter – Pam Grier. I love her. I just love her fierceness, and she‘s kind of, for me, one of the first black superheroes. I would love to have a chance to work with her.

I keep saying my books don’t have superheroes. They have ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Superheroes are best imagined in comic books. The union between the written word, the image, and then what your imagination has to do to connect those allows for so much.

I think you could say that, a lot of players are insecure and sometimes we have this shield around us that we don’t want to accept that we have problems sometimes or we don’t know how to do things because we’re these superheroes.

In Mexico, luchadores, the wrestlers, are the only Mexican superheroes. And to keep the mystery behind the mask is really important.

When I was growing up, all these superheroes were white. On some level, you put that out of your mind… but as you get older, you realize it’s a very one-sided affair. So I’m very glad to see that these movies are becoming more diversified.

As a consumer, I love superheroes.

Not everyone reads comics, although most people know the major superheroes, but the majority of people play video games.

Wonder Woman is one of my favorite superheroes.

I’ve always loved superheroes, and I’m sure every single kid out there is gonna love these superheroes and want to see ‘Shark Boy and Lava Girl‘… and the fact that it’s in 3-D.

I grew up in the 1970s. It was a super open-minded time. I was taught through my parents and TV that everything was possible. You’d see cartoons where superheroes would fly. I always wanted to do these things.

It sounds cliched, but superheroes can be lonely, vain, arrogant and proud. Often they overcome these human frailties for the greater good.

Anyone can see that, say, superheroes and vampires perform well at the box office. That in turn can trigger competitive bidding situations and soaring fees for people who can bring these properties to the screen. The result can be a dramatic increase in the costs of production.

I think that Hollywood misconstrues actresses saying, ‘Oh I wanna play a strong female character,’ like we all want to play, like, superheroes or something.

Let’s face it: there aren’t a lot of black superheroes. So, in dealing with a black superhero, you’re going to deal with ugly history and the beauty of history.

I love other movies that have been made since, but I think more than any comic book movie, ‘Superman’ just totally seemed to capture superheroes in ways that others have not.

I think one of the problems that comics has in dealing with superheroines is that they try to hard to make them superheroes. All they’re doing is the same thing that men do. Just the idea that they’re no different than men, except in how they look, always seemed a bit off to me.

Firefighters and rescue workers are American superheroes.

I don’t think working in superheroes is slumming it. I’m proud of this form. I like this. There’s nothing inherently masculine about power fantasies. There’s nothing inherently masculine about superhero comics. There’s nothing inherently masculine about mythology. About science fiction.

When you write for a comic series, many superheroes have 60 or some years of history that you are coming into.

The general public has been conditioned to think ‘comics = superheroes’ for as long as caped crusaders have been around – by critics, mass media, and Marvel and DC themselves, who have what you might call a vested interest.

I wanted to play football or be a boxer, but my dad didn’t want that because of all the impact. But in 1992 I was watching short track, and it was obscure, but they looked like superheroes in their tight outfits, and I thought it was amazing. I wanted to do that. I made the national team at 14.

Cinema isn’t just a good medium for translating graphic novels. It’s specifically a good medium for superheroes. On a fundamental, emotional level, superheroes, whether in print or on film, serve the same function for their audience as Golden Age movie stars did for theirs: they create glamour.

A lot of superheroes today are a little self-righteous, and what’s cool about ‘Deadpool’ is that he seems like a guy that you could meet at the 7-Eleven down the street.

I believe what makes Black Lightning different from other superhero shows and other superheroes is that he’s really, really family-oriented. You get to see his entire family as well as his daughters being superheroes and diving into that universe.

I grew up with Batman and Superman but definitely in a cartoon and a movie kind of way. I was familiar with DC superheroes. I didn’t know much about The Flash or anything about Iris West!

People may recognize me as some sort of superhero, but it’s different. Spider-Man and all these other superheroes, they get superpowers and do what they want to save the city. If we need to save Hong Kong, we can’t rely on superpowers, we can just rely on the people.

What I’ve always really appreciated about MCU superheroes versus elsewhere is that they are trying to disrupt the idea of what a superhero can be.

Most superheroes, when you look at origin stories – before they invent their costume, they just go with what’s around.

When I was a teenager, I felt my life was constrained by rules, school, my parents. I wanted to feel like I was empowered and different; that’s why superheroes, comics, manga, and video games filled my needs. When I got older, I realized power is not free; it comes with responsibility.

Women are the real superheroes because they’re not just working. They have a life and everything.

The one thing I have never been comfortable with in the modern presentation of character – and it may have changed, this is some years ago – is their total isolation from the rest of the world. It’s all about superheroes interacting with superheroes. There’s no normal life. No normal people.

For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the forces of history or superheroes who acquire mythic status not just because of their deeds but because of their scarcity.

We don’t have a lot of black superheroes.

Especially in the world of fantasy and superheroes, it’s great to have role models that aren’t in skimpy little outfits, in impossible poses. That’s so important for young women.

Superheroes are modern mythological characters, so you’re going to make them look impossible. Even my Krypto The Superdog is the idealisation of the canine form.

I’ve been lucky to combine my two loves quite frequently: that of Marvel Superheroes and Sports Entertainment.

I just felt like actors – I watched a lot of ‘SNL,’ and those guys just seemed like they were superheroes – that that wasn’t a reality for anyone other than people with superhuman strength. So, I mean, I acted a little bit in high school, but the idea of doing it professionally was just never really an option.

The difference between a Marvel superhero and a DC superhero is that we place Marvel superheroes in the real world that we recognize and that we know.

I’m passionate about fantasy movies. I’m passionate about comic book movies. I’m passionate about superheroes. And movies about vengeance. And all of that – the stuff that I grew up reading.

That’s the great thing about G.I. Joe: it’s essentially superheroes, but it’s military based – and it’s based in reality.

The representation of gay characters on screen is important for us all to think about because there are sadly too few representations of gay characters on screen in mainstream cinema. If Marvel starts making movies about gay superheroes, then we’ll be in a really great place. We’re not at that place.

That’s why people love Spider-Man: he’s the most grounded, relatable of superheroes.

I’m making a movie about Wonder Woman, who I love, who to me is one of the great superheroes, so I just treated her like a universal character, and that’s what I think is the next step when I think you can do that more and more and when studios have the confidence to do that more and more.

I really liked the design of Batman. I liked the concept. There’s a lot more you can do with Batman than most other superheroes.

I think a lot of superheroes seem to have the same value system; they just have a different costume. They’re all doing exactly the same thing.

Alistair made my goals feel more achievable. I remember him competing for Great Britain when he was 15, and he came back with his GB kit. I thought, ‘Wow, I want a part of that.’ Sportsmen can seem distant, like superheroes. Seeing my brother achieve that made me think I could, too.

Some of the greatest actors have turned superheroes into a serious business: Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson in ‘Batman’; Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, the first venerable knights of the X-Men, who have now passed the baton to Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy.

We can be whoever we want. We can do whatever we want. We can be superheroes, because in many ways we are. We’ve had trans representation in television for a while, but it hasn’t been the right representation.

The world of superheroes is black and white; the world of monsters is not. Sometimes you need evil to fight evil.

My superheroes are Meth, Keith Murray, Busta Rhymes, ODB, Xzibit. The superheroes before us were EPMD, Slick Rick, Rakim.

I discovered ‘The Shield’ back around 2010, when the Archie superheroes were licensed to DC Comics. From there, I went back into the archives and discovered this whole universe of characters, and I was hooked.

Our media provides a continuing message that for men, heroism is defined through association with control, independence, and the ability to commit violence, from superheroes to crime dramas.

I like movies with superheroes – one of my favorite movies of all time was ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.’

We’ve always been ready for female superheroes. Because women want to be them and men want to do them.

I think supporting casts in comics are missing. I think a lot of the time in comics, all we have are people in costumes talking to other people in costumes, superheroes talking to superheroes and supervillains, and that’s it.

Certainly, your characters – whether they are superheroes are not – should have foibles. They should have problems; they should have things that their powers can’t solve. That’s what makes them nuanced, interesting characters. They can have intense motivations. They should have intense motivations to do what they do.

Now that we’re poisoned with the culture of superheroes, I think it’s important to laugh about it.

I don’t necessarily find superheroes in general, for me, that appealing. I’d much prefer to play, if I was to be cast in a superhero film, I’d prefer to play the villain because there’s a reason, there’s a motive behind their madness.

When you grow up looking at Superman, Batman, and all those superheroes, you take it for granted that is what superheroes are supposed to be. So then, when I see art books at the library, and I’m seeing Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and Rembrandt, I think that’s what artists look like.

I’d love to do live-action superheroes. And you know, I boxed for several years. I have some martial arts experience.

We don’t have a superhero culture. Comic books and superheroes are part of American culture. We have ‘Amar Chitrakatha,’ etc.

It’s so great in Hollywood now. You have people past 40 sitting and talking about serious stuff, writing and making movies and TV, but there’s laser pistols and superheroes and alien monsters involved. It’s viable and mainstream.

There’s a lot of good superheroes out there to pick. Batman’s always been my favorite. Batman thinks of everything. Batman’s always prepared.

I’m not that interested in female superheroes.

Superheroes have always been my thing. I’ve always loved their great allure, whether it’s your traditional superhero like Batman or Superman, or even Greek Mythology, heroes like Zeus.

People of African descent, most of us grew up accepting and loving Spider-Man. I still love Spider-Man. I still love the Incredible Hulk. I still have those characters that were white role models, superheroes, heroes – whatever you want to call it. You basically had no choice but to accept those.

As athletes, it is our responsibility to be role models. But we are not superheroes.

All things are possible, especially in the realm of superheroes.

I do think that having the villain be a woman is just as feminine, because we’re not just saying, ‘Women are wonderful and made of marshmallows,’ but women can be anything. They can be amazing superheroes, or they can be dastardly villains, and everything in between.

One of the weapons Marvel used in its climb to comic-book dominance was a willingness to invent new characters at a dizzying speed. There are so many Marvel universes, indeed, that some superheroes do not even exist in one another’s worlds, preventing gridlock.

I never imagined myself playing a superhero because I don’t see myself the way superheroes have been portrayed or shown to me my entire life.

Let’s be realistic – 90% of superheroes are male. Personally, I prefer Superman, Batman and Spider-Man to Wonder Woman. Not that I don’t like female superheroes, but watching male superheroes gives me a high.

Survival is very powerful. All your faculties want to cling to life. We’re not tested usually, luckily, but when we are, we become superheroes.

I’d always wanted to do a Marvel project, and I’d always imagined getting to play one of the superheroes because it’s such a hard thing to get. It’s the parts that only go to a few people. The flip side of that is the antagonists are pretty awesome.

I think there’s nothing wrong with being fixated on superheroes when you are 7 years old, but I think there’s a disease in not growing up.

What makes Batman and what makes other superheroes work is the myth that when life is at its lowest, and when you need a hero, a hero swings down and helps you.