Television
Despite budget limitations compared to the cinema, television immediately proved to be the ideal medium to transpose the adventures of Superheroes into serials and animated series, precisely because of that spirit of seriality that matched perfectly with the monthly pace of publications. The works of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Batman starring Adam West, Lynda Carter’s unforgettable Wonder Woman and the savage Hulk that alternated actor Bill Bixby with bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, in their naivety of scripts and special effects, nonetheless defined a golden age of the industry, becoming cult films on DVD and Bluray. With the advent of streaming channels, the proposition has become more and more extensive and the quality of the product has risen considerably along with the budgets: Marvel and DC Superhero series are closely linked to the cinematic films in innovative cross-media operations and there is no shortage of independent proposals, such as the dystopian The Boys and the dysfunctional family of Umbrella Academy.
Music
The international artists who have been inspired by Superheroes for their recordings are so many that an exhibition on this theme alone would be necessary! The icons of Modern Mythology have influenced pop and rock music on at least three levels: the title and lyrics of the song (as in Laurie Anderson’s O Superman), the packaging artwork (as in The Traits’ Nobody Loves the Hulk), or the music video. These three elements are not necessarily used to define a single work but may also appear separately. A separate genre are the film soundtracks, often orchestral or a collection of individual pieces, but also, as in the case of Prince’s Batman, concept albums inspired by the mood of the film itself.