In a world flooded with media choices, “blockbuster” summer movies still have an unrivalled power to enthrall us and shape our culture. How can people of faith productively engage with these tentpole events? How does that engagement inform how we live as Christians in the world but not of the world?

Join us as we use the most recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder,* as an entryway to consider film-viewing through the eyes of Christian faith.  

*Note that it is not required to view Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (released May 6) or Thor: Love and Thunder (releasing July 9) to participate in this gathering! Anyone with any level of experience with the MCU is invited to come and share their thoughts, and we’ll shape the discussion accordingly.

Resources

Two of Marvel’s 2022 movies will have been in theaters prior to our meeting. Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is already out and Thor: Love and Thunder will be released the weekend before we meet. If you are not able to watch one or both films prior to meeting, you are still welcome to attend. We will tailor the discussion (and possible spoilers!) to the experience level of those who attend.  

Program Capacity

20 People

Facilitators 

Kevin Walters is a Public Affairs Analyst at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, where he focuses on public policy and university-industry relations. He earned a PhD in U.S. History from UW-Madison, attends Blackhawk Church, and has been a film and sci-fi buff since roughly the age of three, when his grandmother took him to see Empire Strikes Back in a theater. 

Dan Hummel is Director of University Engagement at Upper House. A historian of U.S. religion, Dan has taught at UW-Madison and writes on a variety of topics related to American religious belief, politics, and culture. For more of his biography and writing click here.