Doing fandom, doing disability: Decolonial perspectives to Marvel superhero fan fiction

Abstract

Disability is intrinsic to fan platforms and communities but rarely discussed as an epistemological category in fandom theorizations. In addition to making visible the labor of disabled and neurodivergent fans in fan spaces, it is important to identify the creative potential of disability in fan narratives. From common fan fiction tropes to the portrayal of mental disability and illness, disability is prolific in media fandom. A decolonial lens to key disability representation arcs in Marvel superhero fan fiction reveals that fans are complicit in hegemonic operationalizations of disability that reinstate ideas of American nationalism and imperialism and marginalize non-Western and non-white experiences. In addition, fan works set in a military universe tend to privilege the disability and trauma of white men and signal the colonial legacy of the superhero genre and the MCU franchise.