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No, the MCU Isn’t ‘Military Propaganda,’ It’s the Opposite

In any given Marvel Studios film or series, the U.S. military is either comically inept or actively the antagonist.

Joshua M. Patton
6 min readDec 25, 2024
John Walker as Captain America with blood on his shield from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

An argument that pops up ever so often is that Marvel movies, specifically those in the shared cinematic universe, are military propaganda. Folks say this because Marvel Studios does work with the Pentagon in order to get access to military-only equipment like fighter jets. Also, a number of MCU characters are in the military from Steve Rogers to Carol Danvers to James Rhodes. Since the studio sometimes works with Pentagon entertainment officials (a job that does exist), this leads some to make the leap that the Department of Defense is now effectively writing and directing the movie. This is, of course, is ludicrous, especially if you’ve seen the movies and shows.

While Marvel movies that feature military support do face some demands, it’s a far cry from being propaganda. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am a US Army veteran, serving both pre- and post-9/11. I am adept at recognizing military propaganda, and if Marvel movies are supposed to be that, they’ve done a terrible job. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, there are some who say that the MCU movies have propagandistic themes in general…

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Joshua M. Patton
Joshua M. Patton

Written by Joshua M. Patton

Entertainment, culture, politics, essays & lots of Star Wars. Bylines: Comic Years, CBR. Like my work? Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/O5O0GR

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