{"id":2473,"date":"2016-05-15T19:15:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T13:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2473"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:34:20","slug":"stan-lee-marvel-comics-indian-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2473","title":{"rendered":"Avengers: Endgame and the Evolution of the Indian Fan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

L<\/span>ast April,\u00a0<\/p>Infinity War<\/span><\/i><\/a> finally arrived. It was a historic moment, one that had been 10 years in the making, for which Marvel fans worldwide were waiting with bated breath. My many WhatsApp groups were abuzz \u2013 literally \u2013 in anticipation, frantically exchanging information about ticket availability while simultaneously plotting elaborate strategies to remain spoiler-free in case we couldn\u2019t make it on Friday. For once, we even boycotted social media\u00a0<\/span>en masse<\/span><\/i>\u00a0to avoid spoilers. <\/span>\n\nAnd why not? As the globe-spanning mania enveloping\u00a0Infinity War<\/em> proved, the Marvel Universe\u00a0is not just a collection of movies or comics, it is now a way of life. Along with the Avengers, the <\/span>fandom<\/span><\/a> has assembled. And today, as they flock to watch Avengers: Endgame<\/em>, their true strength is revealed.<\/span>\n\nNo longer can this popular cultural force be relegated to the dusty fringes of society. There\u2019s derivative advertising and mass-factory merchandise everywhere. Advertisements and social media timelines are saturated with superhero references and trailers<\/span>. For once, people outside the fandom have been sidelined, forced to look on in horror and annoyance as Marvel fans spread their wings and take on the world. <\/span>\n\nBeing a fan, however, wasn\u2019t always as cool and mainstream as it might seem to post-millennials. For a long period, the idea of being a fan was an alien concept confined to spectacle-wearing, video-game-loving, comic-book-crazy nerds and geeks who were pretty much beyond the understanding of \u201cnormal\u201d society. In India, the only image the word \u201cfan\u201d evoked in our heads was the crowd that thronged <\/span>Mannat<\/span><\/a> or Pratiksha, waiting for hours to get a mere glimpse of their superstar. The idea of being a fan in India implied an inherent insanity \u2013 manifest in building temples, chanting made-up mantras, marrying inanimate posters, and writing letters in blood. <\/span>\n\nAll this changed with the swish and flick of Harry Potter\u2019s wand. <\/span>\n\nFans came spilling into the streets, rooting for a book they claimed had \u201cchanged their lives,\u201d and displayed their devotion in ways that was previously unheard of. The very idea of being a fan was suddenly redefined. It was no longer about dwelling on the either extreme of supreme nerdhood or inexplicable insanity. Harry Potter mainstreamed the idea of being a fan, normalising the concept of perfectly sane people standing <\/span>overnight<\/span><\/a> in lines to grab a copy of a book or tickets to a show, muggles walking around in robes, debating about Gryffindor and Slytherin. <\/span>Infinity War<\/span><\/i> is merely the latest milestone of a phenomenon that has now been around for years.<\/span>\n

In India, the only image the word \u201cfan\u201d evoked in our heads was the crowd that thronged Mannat or Pratiksha, waiting for hours to get a mere glimpse of their superstar.<\/blockquote>\nI\u2019ve been a proud fan of several pop-culture phenomena, including BBC\u2019s <\/span>Sherlock<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span>Supernatural<\/span><\/i>, Harry Potter, and of course, most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I\u2019ve spent hours scrolling through Tumblr and Twitter and Instagram and YouTube and wherever else the fandom was colluding. Within the depths of these fandoms, I have discovered exciting insights, alternate interpretations, wild theories about characters arcs that still make sense, and beautiful <\/span>fan fiction<\/span><\/a> (often, unsurprisingly, laced with erotica) that are often better than a lot of mainstream writing, boldly tackling themes and ideas that largely remain untouched in conventional works. <\/span>\n\nAs fandom evolved, so did the meaning and idea of being a fan. Not everyone who watched the \u201cfirst day, first show\u201d of every Marvel\u00a0<\/i><\/span>movie was a true fan. In the post-internet era, a true fan is a term reserved for the special category of devoted individuals who squander away hours and days of their lives, thinking and reading and watching and analysing and obsessing over their favourite stories and characters. <\/span>\n\nAnd just being a geek is not enough. <\/span>\n\nIt doesn\u2019t matter if you can point out the exact volume of the comic from which the <\/span>Captain America: Civil Wars<\/span><\/i> story was derived, and can bore someone with a half-hour lecture about the genesis of the storyline. If you didn\u2019t start sobbing like a fool (and reported it on Twitter via frantic live tweets) when Tony reminds Steve that he was his friend too, you, my friend, are no true fan. <\/span>\n\nYet, fandoms are powerful spaces that are so much more than a bunch of nerds talking gibberish about imaginary people. It is a place where people across ages, nationalities, genders, orientations, and races find a sense of belonging, a kinship, a safe space. And while <\/span>toxicity<\/span><\/a> is an unavoidable fall out of being on the internet, most fandoms still maintain a sense of community where issues like <\/span>mental health<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>abuse<\/span><\/a> are a subject of routine discussion. \u00a0<\/span>\n\n\"Indian\n\n

Harry Potter mainstreamed the idea of being a fan, normalising the concept of perfectly sane people standing overnight in lines to grab a copy of a book or tickets to a show, muggles walking around in robes, debating about Gryffindor and Slytherin.<\/p>

\nImage credit: Shams Qari\/Barcroft Images\/Barcroft Media via Getty Images<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nUltimately, fandoms are those special places where lifelong bonds are formed based on things as diverse as shared trauma of an <\/span>abusive childhood<\/span><\/a>, being <\/span>gay<\/span><\/a>, loving porn or in some remarkable cases, being an utter and absolute <\/span>nihilist<\/span><\/a>. The running thread, the one that ties everything together, are of course imaginary stories and superheroes that offer not just an excuse to bond over but also a rare catharsis that is often unavailable to us in real life.<\/span>\n\nThe beauty of being in a fandom is to know that you are not alone. There is always someone out there who\u2019d know why Snape\u2019s \u201cAlways\u201d still makes you cry, why you can\u2019t talk to strangers, and why you\u2019re still embarrassed over that thing you said 10 years ago. Sometimes, that sense of community alone is enough to help someone make it through the day. And for that alone, being a fan is worth it.<\/span>\n\nAnd if that is not enough to convince you of the value of the fandoms, always remember \u2013 <\/span>Dumbledore<\/span><\/a> is gay because enough of the fandom believed him to be. That\u2019s why we now have a <\/span>new black girl<\/span><\/a> as Iron Man. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nIn the age of the internet, it\u2019s the fans who make the world go round. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Along with the Avengers, the fandom has assembled. And today, as they finally find out what took place after the Infinity War, their true strength is revealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":2476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[1619,5055,4234,5056,5057,5058,1745,5059,5034,4235,1451,4236,4237,5060,5061],"class_list":["post-2473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-avengers","tag-avengers-infinity-war","tag-captain-america","tag-comic-con","tag-endgame","tag-fandoms","tag-hollywood","tag-indian-fan","tag-infinity-war","tag-iron-man","tag-marvel","tag-marvel-cinematic-universe","tag-mcu","tag-stan-lee","tag-superheroes"],"yoast_head":"\nAvengers: Endgame and the Evolution of the Indian Fan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Along with the Avengers, the fandom has assembled. 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