Clad in Marvel swag, like her Dr. Strange sling ring and Eye of Agamotto necklace, Carnegie Mellon University junior Izzy Sio leads a discussion about the psychedelic horror film genre inside of Doherty Hall.
Sio, who is majoring in statistics and professional writing, runs "Marvel Film and Media Studies," a student-taught course, along with senior Sabrina Clarke, sophomore Erin Beasley, and their teaching assistant, first-year student Leila Berger. Today's topics are "Dr. Strange" and "Spiderman: Homecoming."
The class has run for seven semesters. It was founded by former student Chris Compendio to critically examine the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their different genres. The instructors base the lessons in film theory: examining the directorial choices, behind-the-scenes material and the development process.
"If you're a senior now, the movie of your freshman spring was 'Captain America: Civil War,'" Sio said. "Now you're going to finish college with 'Avengers: Endgame.' That's a whole phase of your life. That's pretty incredible to have grown up with this."
Over 10 years and 21 films have passed since Marvel, which is now owned by Disney, launched its cinematic universe with the first "Iron Man" in May of 2008. Beasley, a computer science major, was eight.
"I was too young to see the first 'Iron Man' in theaters," Beasley said. "It was PG-13. My parents said no. With 'The Avengers' it became a big thing I paid attention to."