What genre do you think superhero movies fall under: Science Fiction, or Fantasy?

Mythology.

Absolutely no question.

I agree: Fantasy.

Science Fiction involves things that might come to pass should the technology be developed. Fantasy crosses the line into “indistinguishable from magic”.

FANTASY…... how is this even a question?

Fantasy.

However, it depends on the hero, to some extent. Batman, for instance, is a regular guy with the resources to buy seemingly “super” powers. In that respect, I could see someone arguing for Science Fiction. Many of Batman’s far-fetched gizmos are reality today.

But Batman’s nemesis are always very far fetched…

Depends. Spiderman, Superman, Ironman, Captain America, and Batman : Science Fiction.

Thor: Fantasy.

Fantasy, except for Ironman; that’s more sciencey ‘cause his super powers come from technology.

@zenvelo
See, apart from batman, i consider all of those fantasy.
superpowers from being bitten by a radioactive spider? fantasy.
sun based superpowers, flight and laser eyes with no attempt to explain how they work? Fantasy
some fancy “arc reactor” with no basis in reality and no regard for the laws of intertia? Fantasy.
superpowers from some unexplained “supersoldier serum”? fantasy.

@zenvelo….... wrong….. Iron man, perhaps.. but the rest are pure Fantasy. (am I mssing something with Ironman? I thought he was just a super inventor)

@ragingloli @cazzie

Spiderman: the perils of radioactive science research.

Superman: based on space travel.

Capt. America; based on WWII advanced DARPA research.

Batman; A rich guy who can buy the needed scientific tools.

So now there is right and wrong opinions on Social questions?

If ironman gets a pass it’s only because his “powers” are in the suit. But even then, the scenarios in which he is involved as well as the mix in with all the other fantasy heroes renders even that defense paper thin.

It’s not science fiction and not quite fantasy, maybe mythology?

Neither, to me superhero is a genre all of its own.
Fiction? Fantasy? Don’t care.

Speculative Fiction: sub-type Fantasy, sub-genre super-heroes & super powers.

Star Wars is fantasy. Star Trek is science fiction.

The tech is never the point in Star Wars. Whenever they try to invoke science, it is given a mystical interpretation. That’s fantasy.

I would classify superhero movies as fantasy also. The science is generally only brought in to create an origin story, then never revisited. The kind of technology used by, say, Batman, is an extreme version of hardware store DIY.

It’s really hard to put even Iron Man into the science fiction realm, even though tech research is his whole raison d’etre. I can’t think of a defensible reason to keep Iron Man out of science fiction, but he so obviously does not belong there. Maybe this is exactly why we have superheroes/comics as a separate genre from both fantasy and science fiction.

Comic book fantasy.

Fantasy.

Normal fiction.

Science fiction.