Avengers and Philosophy: Earth's Mightiest Thinkers, The (16 page)

NOTES

1.
Avengers
, vol. 4, #1 (July 2010), reprinted in
Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis Vol. 1
(2011).

2.
Ibid.

3.
Although
philia
is generally translated as “friendship,” today that word suggests a voluntary relationship that Aristotle would not have understood. Also,
philia
is not purely friendship but also a sense of a common ethical and social identity, which is why Aristotle can speak of a form of civic
philia
among citizens in a
polis
.

4.
Avengers
, vol. 1, #1 (September 1963), reprinted in
Essential Avengers Vol. 1
(1998).

5.
See Aristotle,
Politics
, 1252b29–1252b30 (any reputable translation will include this standard pagination), and also Christopher Shields,
Aristotle
(New York: Routledge, 2007), 352.

6.
See C. C. W. Taylor, “Politics,” in
The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle
, ed. Jonathan Barnes (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 233–258, esp. at 239.

7.
Aristotle,
Politics,
1253, and
Nicomachean Ethics
, 1097b6–1097b16. When I quote from the
Nicomachean Ethics
, I use H. Rackham’s translation available in
Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934).

8.
Taylor, “Politics,” 235.

9.
Jonathan Lear,
Aristotle: The Desire to Understand
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 155.

10.
Ibid., 153. The idea of virtue being something within the soul is associated with the influence of Christian ethics.

11.
Nicomachean Ethics
, 1097b16–1097b20.

12.
Ibid., 1169b16–1169b22.

13.
Ibid., 1168b11–1169a7.

14.
John M. Cooper, “Aristotle on Friendship,” in
Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics
, ed. Amélie Oksenberg Rorty (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), 301–339.

15.
Nicomachean Ethics
, 1170b14–1170b19.

16.
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #1 (May 2006), reprinted in
Ms. Marvel: Best of the Best
(2006).

17.
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #13 (May 2007), reprinted in
Ms. Marvel: Operation Lightning Storm
(2007).

18.
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #1.

19.
Ibid.

20.
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #13.

21.
Mighty Avengers
#1 (March 2007), reprinted in
Mighty Avengers: The Ultron Initiative
(2008).

22.
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #13.

23.
In terms of her love life, Carol had just one date, with a “normal” guy, which was (of course) interrupted by superheroing (
Ms. Marvel
, vol. 2, #11, March 2007, reprinted in
Ms. Marvel: Operation Lightning Storm
). Carol is more appropriately matched with Simon Williams (Wonder Man), whom she and Iron Man recruited for the Mighty Avengers, and who shows her true
philia
through his devotion to
arête
as a hero. (See their exchange in
Mighty Avengers: The Ultron Initiative
, 2008.)

24.
The Pulse
#14 (May 2006), reprinted in
The Pulse Vol. 3: Fear
(2006).

25.
Alias
#22 (July 2003), reprinted in
Alias Ultimate Collection Book 2
(2010).

26.
Ibid.

27.
Alias #
23 (August 2003), reprinted in
Alias Ultimate Collection Book 2
.

28.
The Pulse
#14.

29.
Alias #
24 (September 2003), reprinted in
Alias Ultimate Collection Book 2
.

30.
See
Alias Ultimate Collection Book 1
(2009).

31.
The Pulse
#11 (November 2005), reprinted in
The Pulse Vol. 3: Fear
.

32.
Ibid.

33.
The Pulse
#12 (January 2006), reprinted in
The Pulse Vol. 3: Fear
.

34.
Ibid.

35.
Ibid.

36.
Ibid.

37.
Ibid.

38.
New Avengers Annual
#1 (June 2006), reprinted in
The Pulse Vol. 3: Fear
.

39.
Ibid.

40.
New Avengers Annual
#3 (February 2010), reprinted in
New Avengers Vol. 13: Siege
(2010).

41.
Mighty Avengers
#1 (March 2007).

42.
Reprinted in
Essential Ant-Man Vol. 1
(2002).

43.
Tales to Astonish
, vol. 1, #35 (September 1962), reprinted in
Essential Ant-Man Vol. 1
.

44.
See
Avengers
, vol. 1, #212–214 (October–December 1981).

45.
Avengers
, vol. 1, #214 (December 1981).

46.
Ibid.

47.
West Coast Avengers
, vol. 2, #21 (June 1987), reprinted in
Avengers: West Coast Avengers—Lost in Space and Time
(2012).

48.
For more on the Dark Avenger, see the chapter titled “The Self-Corruption of Norman Osborn: A Cautionary Tale” by Robert Powell and the chapter titled “Shining the Light on the Dark Avengers” by Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson in this volume.

49.
Mighty Avengers
#21 (March 2009), reprinted in
Mighty Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest
(2009).

50.
Ibid.

51.
Ibid.

52.
Ibid.

53.
Ibid.

54.
Mighty Avengers
#22 (April 2009), reprinted in
Mighty Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest
.

55.
Ibid.

56.
Ibid.

57.
Vincent M. Gaine, “Genre and Super-Heroism: Batman in the New Millennium,” in
The 21st Century Superhero: Essays on Gender, Genre, and Globalization in Film
, ed. Richard J. Gray II and Betty Kaklamanidou (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011), 111–128, esp. at 127.

58.
I am grateful to Mark White, Photini Spanakos, and William Batman Batkay for their comments.

Chapter 9

CAP’S KOOKY QUARTET: IS REHABILITATION POSSIBLE?

Andrew Terjesen

In
Avengers
, volume 1, #16 (May 1965), the group went through its first major lineup change. All of the founding members of the Avengers quit, leaving only the “new kid,” Captain America. The three new recruits were Hawkeye, who had fought Iron Man several times, and mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, who were originally members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Quickly dubbed “Cap’s Kooky Quartet,” the Avengers became known for giving people second chances at leading heroic, virtuous lives. But is such rehabilitation possible?

Can an Archer Change His Trick Arrows?

Although his relationships with his fellow Avengers have been rocky due to his cocky nature and his need to prove himself (especially to Cap), Hawkeye is the most successful rehabilitation in Avengers history. He has been a part of the Avengers in some capacity for most of its existence, and he founded and led the West Coast Avengers. If we can pinpoint the source of Hawkeye’s success, we could go a long way to understanding the nature of rehabilitation.

The word “rehabilitation” shares a Latin root with the word “habit.” That Latin root means “to have, hold, or keep,” which is fitting since rehabilitating someone involves breaking them of bad habits and making sure good habits take hold. The idea that a good person has a fixed and habitual character has a long history in moral philosophy and was best expressed by Aristotle (384–322 BCE) in the
Nicomachean Ethics.
According to Aristotle, a virtue is a fixed disposition that leads someone to choose the right way to act in a given situation. A virtuous person is not someone who is merely honest or courageous most of the time, or by accident or inclination. Rather, a virtuous person is
always
honest and courageous because that is who he or she
is.

Being an honest person, however, does not mean always telling the truth or never being deceptive. Aristotle recognized that the right way to act was often dependent upon the circumstances of a specific situation, which is why a fixed character was needed. If honesty or courage could be summed up in terms of a rule, we would merely tell people to follow that rule. A virtuous person has the experience and fine-tuned moral sense to know what a situation demands. For example, no one would dispute that Captain America is courageous, but his courage is not defined by a particular set of rules. Sometimes his courage demands that he fight Thanos even if it seems likely that he is going to die, whereas other times courage demands that he make a strategic retreat or even surrender (as he did at the end of the Civil War).

If you’re bothered by the idea that a virtuous person always does the virtuous thing, you’re not alone. Contemporary philosopher and psychologist John M. Doris has challenged Aristotle’s notion of character as being unrealistic, using psychological studies to show that it is impossible to develop the kind of fixed character that Aristotle seems to require.
¹
These studies suggest that situational factors loom much larger than individual character in determining behavior. For example, in an infamous study conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram, subjects were led to believe that they were part of an experiment testing the effects of negative reinforcement on learning. Subjects were told to give shocks to the learners if they got their answers wrong (though unbeknownst to the subjects, the learners were actually a part of the experiment and the shocks were faked). Milgram found that about two-thirds of all participants were willing to go “all the way” to 450 volts of shock (which would supposedly cause tremendous pain to the learner). Even people who reported leading virtuous lives outside this experiment went all the way.
²
Doris argues that the experiment created a situation where most people felt compelled to follow through with the shocks even if they thought it was the wrong thing to do. They weren’t acting on virtues or vices, like courage or cruelty, but instead were reacting to the particular situation at hand.

Finding a Balance with Hawkeye

Doris argues that we don’t really have global character traits like honesty, courage, or compassion that apply to a large number of situations regardless of their specific circumstances. Instead, we have local character traits, which apply more narrowly and in particular situations, like “courage under fire,” or the “courage to speak out.” So who is right, Aristotle or Doris? The case of Hawkeye shows us that the answer may lie somewhere in between.

In Hawkeye’s case, the relevant character trait seems to be a need for validation or attention. Just consider his reason for becoming a costumed adventurer: he was jealous of the attention Iron Man was getting.
³
This need for approval is a fixed part of Hawkeye’s character; it is a constant theme in his solo stories as well as his adventures with the Avengers, the West Coast Avengers, and the Thunderbolts. Soon after donning his heroic mantle, though, Hawkeye was diverted into a criminal career. After he was mistaken for a criminal, his hotheadedness led him to decide spitefully that if they were going to think he was a criminal, he would become one.
⁴

Hotheadedness and a need for approval are regional character traits, lying somewhere between the global traits described by Aristotle and the local traits defended by Doris. None of Hawkeye’s regional character traits changed significantly when he went from criminal to hero. Although his experiences have tempered him somewhat, he remains the stereotypical costumed archer with a chip on his shoulder and a bad temper. Hawkeye’s rehabilitation from a criminal to a hero did not eradicate those traits; instead, he used them for better purposes. His need for approval often leads him to try to prove his worth to his fellow heroes by taking the lead on risky missions, and because of his temper he is usually the Avenger who is most upset about perceived injustice and unfairness.

Avengers Annual
#16 (1987) features one of Hawkeye’s most memorable and notorious feats of heroism.
⁵
The Grandmaster has challenged the Avengers to stop his “lifebombs” from exploding and destroying the universe. The Avengers succeed, but the Grandmaster insists they replay that challenge, which they must do until the Grandmaster wins. At that point, Hawkeye challenges him to “draw straws” for the fate of the universe. In this case, the “straws” are Hawkeye’s last two arrows, one of which has a trick attachment, and the one who chooses this arrow is the winner. The Grandmaster can’t resist this gamble and is shocked when he draws the shaft without an attachment, leaving him vulnerable just long enough to bring an end to his scheme. As we soon see, the Grandmaster actually chose the arrow with the attachment, but Hawkeye snapped the attachment off the arrow as the Grandmaster grabbed it. Cap criticizes Hawkeye for cheating, and later, at a baseball game, he tells Thor to watch Hawkeye closely because “he cheats!” Cap buys into the idea of cheating as a global character trait. As we know, though, Hawkeye is not someone who always cheats for his own gain. Rather, he has a regional character trait—say, being a rule bender for the sake of the greater good—that motivates his actions in a dire situation.

Maybe it Really Is in the Blood

The other members of the Kooky Quartet have not been as successful in staying on the side of the angels. Not many are fast enough to act more hastily than Hawkeye, but Quicksilver has no trouble outpacing our favorite archer’s rash and hotheaded nature. He abruptly quits the Avengers after his sister Wanda is accidentally injured, and briefly joins up again with Magneto and even fights the X-Men.
⁶
Later he becomes an outright enemy of the West Coast Avengers. Throughout his career, Quicksilver ends up being as unpredictable as his name suggests. The Scarlet Witch is a more regular fixture on the Avengers roster until she becomes one of their greatest threats during the “Avengers Disassembled” story line, when she kills several Avengers, including her old friend Hawkeye and her former love the Vision.
⁷
After that, under her brother’s influence, she uses her reality-altering powers to transform the world into the “House of M,” where Magneto rules a mutant aristocracy that oppresses humans.
⁸

Wanda and Pietro are the twin children of Magneto. Is there an unstable or evil gene that they inherited from their father? While that might be tempting to conclude, there is a simpler answer.
⁹
We already saw that Hawkeye’s success depended on redirecting his existing character traits, but none of them were real obstacles to reform. If we look at Pietro and Wanda, we find that their experiences left them with some habits that were an impediment to becoming law-abiding members of the community.

As happens to many mutants in the Marvel Universe, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were persecuted from an early age. This led them to join Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which seemed to be less concerned with fighting prejudice than with scheming for world domination. Because the Brotherhood only made things worse, the twins left and wrote a letter asking to join the Avengers. As Quicksilver explains, “The Avengers might accept us without caring that we are different—without always reminding us—we’re mutants!!”
¹⁰
Wanda only reluctantly goes along with his plan; she would much rather that they stop using their powers and live in obscurity. Here we can see the differences between the two reflected in their regional character traits. Pietro is arrogant and takes the “scientific” name for mutants in the Marvel Universe—
Homo superior
—to heart. He wants to join the Avengers so that he can use his superspeed without being persecuted. Wanda, on the other hand, wants to live a normal life; she is more than happy to ignore her mutant nature.

Quicksilver’s arrogance causes friction with Hawkeye and Cap, but he develops a grudging respect for them over time. It is not enough, however, to quell his distaste for humanity in general. At one point he tells his sister that it is humans, “with their constant mistrust of everything associated with the word mutant . . . who should try and please us!”
¹¹
This is not the attitude of a hero, and it’s no surprise that Quicksilver’s sense of superiority is responsible for his backsliding into the role of villain. He feels that he deserves a certain level of respect, but the public at large remains fearful of him. After being wrongly blamed for an explosion, he says, “The time draws near when I will bear their insults and suspicions no longer . . . but will lash back!”
¹²
Aside from his arrogance, Pietro’s defining characteristic is his love for his twin sister. When Wanda is injured in battle (which had secretly been caused by Magneto), Pietro’s immediate response is to carry her off and quit the Avengers. When he finally returns to the Avengers, it’s because his sister is in danger and he needs help.
¹³

From that point forward, Pietro has a tumultuous association with the Avengers. Not only does he join and quit several times, but he also clashes with them as he tries to carry out villainous plots. Most of Wanda’s tenure with the Avengers is a lot calmer, but she eventually uses her powers to destroy the Avengers as an organization and then reshape the world into a mutant paradise. Wanda’s most defining characteristic is her simple desire to live a normal life—which she found with the Avengers—and unlike her brother she is more than willing to suppress her past experiences so that she can focus on the now.

When Aristotle talks about character, he distinguishes a virtuous person from a
continent
one. A virtuous person is someone who always does the right thing because it pleases them. For instance, a courageous person takes pleasure in doing the courageous thing. A continent person is someone who does the courageous thing but doesn’t enjoy doing it. They probably do it because it is the “right thing to do,” but they find doing the right thing to be burdensome. A virtuous person will not fall away from virtue, but a continent person could stumble under certain conditions. Both Quicksilver and Wanda seem to be continent as opposed to virtuous. Their experiences make it very hard for them to take true pleasure in behaving heroically. Hawkeye, by contrast, enjoys being a hero. It’s not surprising then that the children of Magneto (especially Pietro) have a tendency to return to a life of villainy (what legal scholars call
recidivism
).

Old Dogs and New Tricks

When the Avengers were thought to be have been killed by Onslaught (and were really in the “Heroes Reborn” universe), the Masters of Evil pretended to be a group of superheroes known as the Thunderbolts.
¹⁴
Before long, however, some of the team realized they liked being superheroes and turned against their leader, Baron Zemo. When Hawkeye first read about the remaining Thunderbolts’ claim that they had truly reformed, he was livid. In his usual hotheaded manner, he set out to confront them.
¹⁵
Why was he so skeptical about the Thunderbolts’ rehabilitation when he had been in a similar situation upon joining the Avengers?