The American Hero

The American hero is integral to the American story. Without the American hero there’s no American story. The American hero is an expression of American society – or what America aspires to be – its values and dreams. In essence it’s always the good guy (representing freedom and the American way) versus the baddies (the enemies of freedom and the American way).

In the 1920s, action packed serials were shown in theatres. The heroes were part Robin Hood, part swashbuckling hero. They included adventurers, explorers, detectives, cowboys, fantastic characters like Tarzan, and space adventurers like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. These heroes were often based on popular comic strips. The serials reflected the upbeat tone of the prosperous, Jazz Age. Shows like The Phantom Empire acted as mirrors to the vibrant energy of the time – the show was a musical, science fiction western with robots and singing cowboys.

The Great Depression of the 1930s changed how America saw itself. The tone changed from jubilation to cynicism. The lighting and cinematography literally darkened. In gangster movies from the 1930s, the good cop fought greedy and cruel gangsters within the violent and corrupt American city. The gangster movie reflected the America of the 1930s, a ‘dog eat dog’ macho world where only the tough survived.

During the 1940s and the Second World War, the American hero became duty bound with the return of the cowboy and the Western, the sherif restoring law and order to chaos, the American rugged individual flighting the baddies who have brought tyranny on a town, stolen land or cattle, or imposed some kind of form of injustice. The cowboy inhabits an equally rugged landscape – the desert or mountains. Also, during the 1940s, the gangster film morphed into the detective story and the equally dark world of Film Noir, populated by cheats, con artists, and the femme fatal. There was also the War Movie, the US Marine fighting on a Pacific island for freedom.

The 1950s saw more War Movies, Westerns, comedies, and musicals. These increasingly became more cartoon-like and divorced from reality. In the 1960s and 70s, counterculture films questioned assumptions about the American hero. The hero became a flawed protagonist… the anti-hero. The ‘good cop’ was now tainted by corruption or fighting corruption within the system. Revisionist Westerns portrayed settlers and cowboys as the aggressors and the Native American Indians as innocent victims. Serpico (1973) signalled trouble ahead for the good guy.

After the oil shortages and the economic shocks of the 1970s, the American hero had to become a survivor. The cops became tougher, surviving a bureaucratic system that didn’t care about justice, only following the rules. Dirty Harry would enforce the law and refuse to let liberal-minded pen pushers get in his way. The American hero became a survivor of the Cold War, living in a post-apocalyptic landscape or on an alien planet. By the end of the 1970s, the economy was beginning to pick up. People wanted something upbeat and optimistic. They found it with Star Wars (1977).

In the 1980s, when American returned to the business of making money, and the nation had regained its confidence, audiences responded to the regained optimism with the return of the rugged individual – the upgraded lone hero. The new heroes were cops or ex-Special Forces. The baddies were drug gangs, terrorists, the system, or alien monsters. Even the cops were honest again with the rise of the buddy movie.

But the economic downturn of the 1990s, the Dot-Com Bubble and the financial crash made people question the system again. The American hero reflected that uncertainty. It saw the rise of unlikely heroes, heroes involved in crime, female heroes operating differently to their male counterparts, stories of heroic tragedy, sinking ships and technological dystopias. The tone of Seven (1995) personified the 90s hero, not quite in control, facing shocking horrors, and a signal of what would come a decade later.

The 2000s saw the rise of the hero operating within a dark and sometimes surreal world. Fighting serial killers, fighting monsters in a fantastic landscape, or operating in a dark version of New York – Gotham City. The Dark Knight (2008) took the darkness and realism of Seven and combined it (much like the hits of the 1930s serials) with a classic comic strip hero… Batman. And in doing so, it became a precursor to the superhero revival.

The 2010s saw the rise of the big IP franchise. Classic movies reimagined with varying degrees of success. The reluctant hero becoming a deadly weapon, forced into action. Earnest heroes. Tainted heroes. And the comic strip superhero.

The 2020s have seen the pandemic and the rise of Netflix. Doubts about the health of American society have been reflected in the American story and hero. Does America still believe in itself enough to produce heroes? What is a nation without heroes? Hollywood tried to reassure audiences with Top Gun: Maverick (2022), while usurping the traditional male hero with the girlboss in films like Mad Max: Furiosa (2024).

The American story and hero reflects the US economy, how secure Americans feel and their faith in the system. During an economic downturn Americans look for fighters (tough, resilient, resourceful). These heroes operate in cynical, dark worlds. They are there to sort out painful problems. In prosperous times the hero is more likely to be a healer (softer, kinder, thoughtful). The noble hero in a lighter, less cynical world.

What does the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day say about the American hero in 2026? Will the film be a trendsetter for the rest of the decade, and the 2030s, or an outlier?