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Many argue that eugenics — in some form — has existed for hundreds of years, categorizing practices like infanticide and killing individuals that did not have desirable personality traits under the umbrella. Eugenics, as it is understood today, began with Francis Galton (( Francis Galton | Biography, Travels, & Eugenics | Britannica. (2023). In Encyclopædia Britannica. )), a mathematician, who defined the term eugenics in 1883 as a response to who society blamed:
“for all that is new and disturbing in life.”
(( Facing History and Ourselves. Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement. 2021, p. 68. ))
Convinced natural selection was not the answer, and worried about what he perceived as a “decline of genius,” he developed a plan to present eugenics to the world. As academic and social criticism of eugenics grew, there was a decline in its use. Its use in World War II by the Nazi party marked one of the last significant and widespread implementations of eugenics worldwide.
That is not to say it did not continue to exist in some form after that. The use of sterilization techniques across the United States to treat women’s “hysteria” into the 1970s and Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan Yew’s endorsement of the practice are only two of a number of examples that show the concept is still alive in society today.
Its prevalence is also seen in the media, particularly in popular films and TV series. One recent example is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (2023; Gunn, James), in which the main antagonist of the film utilizes the practice in his efforts to create the perfect society to place on a new planet.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s use of eugenics is similar to its predecessors through its portrayal of the practice and the lack of consideration for the nuances of presenting a harmful idealogy in today’s social climate. Continuing to utilize eugenics as a plot point is detrimental because it introduces audiences to an idea that could be used to create a negative impact on specific social groups today.
The Usage Of Eugenics In The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
With the prominence the topic seems to have in the industry, it should come as no surprise that there are examples of eugenics within the Marvel Cinematic Universe that vary in scope. However, the franchise continues to use the mold of the films before it rather than create its own, reinforcing the negative ramifications of presenting the practice to the masses and the media’s fascination with its use in stories.
The presence of eugenics in society correlated with its appearance in the media; it started first with books, like A Demigod by Edward Payton Jackson in 1886, Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1915, and Eugenia: A Fictional Sketch of Future Habits by Eduardo Urzaiz in 1919 (( “Pop Culture’s 100-year Obsession With Eugenics.” Gizmodo. 2012. Accessed May 29, 2023. )). They featured eugenics in a variety of forms, from an entire society of Aryan women to the artificial selection of humanity. Popular books that include similar beliefs are Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and City of Thieves by David Benioff.
Marvel films, and more particularly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, ride the wave of the films before it, including other popular adaptations that highlight eugenics like 1932’s Island of Lost Souls, based on the 1896 book by H.G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau. The franchise also utilizes common tropes in films featuring eugenics, like the “mad scientist” that was present in many eugenics films during World War II, particularly in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with the introduction of the High Evolutionary, a scientist that is arguably a bit mad.
Like these films, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 uses eugenics as a method of moving a story forward and showing how “bad” the antagonist is. Because of the negative portrayal of the individual utilizing the practice, much like how eugenics is portrayed in films from the 1940s, it may be thought that the film is condemning the practice. However, rather than discourage audiences from it, Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are reminding audiences of its existence and how it can be carried out in society.
Despite being a great film in showing the brutalities of animal testing, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 relies on a common storyline within its genre without attempting to consider its social impact, reinforcing tired plots and continuing to expose audiences to dangerous rhetoric that could be used against people today. The High Evolutionary and the goals he presents within Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are particularly concerning when the social context of today is considered and in comparison to how eugenics is featured previously in the MCU.
“The Infinity Saga” (2008-2019) & Thanos’ Quest For A Perfect World
When audiences were introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, they had no way of knowing the adventure they were embarking on.
Over the course of four different phases, now referred to as “The Infinity Saga,” (( Cinematic, M. (2023). “The Infinity Saga.” Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki; Fandom, Inc. )) the Marvel movies showed the popular characters battling Thanos (Josh Brolin) and trying to prevent him from finding and using the Infinity Stones. Thanos’ goal was to use the stones to create a more stable world, one without poverty and hunger, by eliminating half of the universe’s population. While his efforts to blip half the population out of existence for the greater good seem righteous, they are at the cost of potentially entire societies and civilizations.
There is no specificity when he uses the stones during the infamous Snap; it simply removes half the universe’s population at random. At face value, this does not appear to comply with the definition of eugenics as previously described. If it’s random, there isn’t a targeted effort to maintain certain individuals in the more stable world Thanos dreams of. However, the universe is a vast space. While many of the species and races audiences have been introduced to appear to have significant populations, that isn’t always the case.
In removing half the population, entire societies could be wiped out of existence depending on their size. This would remove them from the reproductive population and ensure their genetic material can’t be passed on. It is, at best, described as eugenics-adjacent. As audiences watched Thanos successfully carry out his mission, they were merely being primed for the event that was to come in the next stage of the MCU, The Multiverse Saga, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The High Evolutionary’s Quest For A Perfect Species In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (Gunn, James; 2023)
With the shift to “The Multiverse Saga,” (( Cinematic, M. (2023). The Multiverse Saga. Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki; Fandom, Inc. )) audiences are now seeing a variety of timelines taking place across the MCU. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 takes fans down a different route, instead of focusing on the backstory of one of the team’s members. The previous two installments of the trilogy have shown the backstories of Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), and even glimpses into the previous lives of Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff).
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a tragic incident forces the team to confront Rocket’s backstory head-on and exposes them to the dangers of eugenics firsthand. Rather than utilize a different narrative trope to characterize the film’s antagonist, Marvel goes back to what they already know and implemented, choosing to create a more intense portrayal of the topic. Flashbacks to Rocket’s life reveal that, as a baby raccoon, he was tested on by the High Evolutionary as part of the scientist’s efforts to create a new, superior species. His goals point toward developing a species that has its own innate intelligence and can thrive without his intervention, effectively creating a utopia, which he dubbed Counter-Earth.
Rocket is a part of Batch 89. While it is not clear what happened in the batches before him, Batch 89 contains other animals that have been experimented on and modified in ways that give them the ability to speak and have what many may consider higher levels of intelligence than their species typically have. Rocket, in particular, was an anomaly. In creating Rocket, the High Evolutionary made a being that has the innate intelligence he desires, but he does not know how he did it. This causes him to want to harvest Rocket’s brain, leading the raccoon to make a daring escape that ends poorly for his friends.
Years later, now that Rocket’s life is still in the High Evolutionary’s hands, the scientist has come no further in his quest. He has created a species that require very little caloric nutrition to survive and can memorize anything it’s taught, but he still has to teach them what he wishes they inherently knew. Counter-Earth, while appearing as a utopia with hybrid creations that live in a civilized society similar to our own (crime and famine included), is a failure to him. He plans to start again, his new calorically-efficient species ready to be moved to their own planet.
The Impact Of The High Evolutionary In The Larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
The presence of the High Evolutionary, and a film dedicated to showcasing his plans to create the ideal species, continue the trend of utilizing eugenics in media. While it is cast in a negative light, as it often is, it has become a concerning trend, particularly in science fiction and fantasy media. When paired with the current social climate of the world, the continued use of eugenics in the media creates a concerning picture.
Much of this is rooted in the media’s fascination with the topic. While it made sense to be included in media when the practice was researched and considered around the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and even in regards to its use in World War II, why does eugenics continue to have a place in media today… Perhaps it is rooted in society’s want and desire for perfection.
We look to those we call celebrities to support this. We expect them to look a certain way, one that is generally considered attractive to most. As a society, we often pair “good-looking” people together, hoping that they continue to produce “good-looking” children. By including eugenics in media, it allows audiences to see that type of perfection play out on screen even if it isn’t happening in the real world.
The Evolution Of Eugenics Within The Genre Of Science Fiction As Compared With Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
As argued by Kirby in 2007, since eugenics began appearing in media it has been inherently intertwined with science fiction films and television. As a genre that consistently poses itself to feature the latest and greatest technology, the scientific thinking of the time comes with it, and that is often associated with the human race. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is no different.
Following in the footsteps of what Kirby refers to as the phase of genomic enhancement from 1990 to 2004 in film, it features the High Evolutionary effectively working with genetic engineering to develop a visually human species that has a more desirable gene pool because of his genetic manipulation (( Kirby, David A. “The devil in our DNA: a brief history of eugenics in science fiction films.” Literature and medicine vol. 26,1 (2007): 83-108. )).
He takes this as far as to want to destroy his previous creations in order to understand their genetic makeup to then implement certain genes into his new experiments. His goals, like Galton before him, are to create a species that is more intelligent than the one before it. Despite the time that has passed since Kirby’s work, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 paints a picture that, in terms of eugenics in media, as a society, we are still heavily within the genomic enhancement stage.
Cloning technology, genetically modified organisms like salmon, and gene splicing continue to be explored by the scientific community today, and that in turn is mirrored in the media we consume. While initial experiments by the High Evolutionary feature different animals, like rabbits or otters, the new species audiences are introduced to in the film are reminiscent of clones. Though there are some differences, there are similarities in the size, eye color, and haircut of his newest creations.
Eugenics In GOTG Vol 3 In The Context Of Today’s Society
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t be the last film to center on eugenics, but in today’s world, when many groups of people are under attack because of their differences and what many perceive should be the “norm,” it isn’t responsible to continue to expose audiences to the practice. In the case of the High Evolutionary, he destroys an entire planet, one that contains a population of his own creation, because it wasn’t what he pictured his perfect planet to be. He decided to instead start over.
In a world where people are being criticized, harmed, and discriminated against because they are different from a certain subset of people, is it beneficial to present ideas like eugenics in the media consumed by the masses? When the species he created became too different from what he imagined it should be, the High Evolutionary eliminated it.
It can be argued that is the goal in certain realms of society today. He then took to creating a new species, one that was more in line with the vision he had. Again, it can be argued this is happening in society today with the way the adoption industry is moving and the advances in fertility and reproductive treatments. Ultimately, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 presents a dangerous idea to a particularly volatile world.
In a society where the “many” are trying to eliminate the “few,” is it best to show something similar taking place in a popular franchise? Though eugenics has been a staple in the science fiction genre since the idea came about in the late 1800s, that doesn’t mean it should continue to be. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 neglects to consider the nuance and history behind the idea.
Rather than move in a unique direction with their new antagonist, Marvel instead chose to go further down the same road, venturing into the same territory as the films before it and doubling down on the dangerous premise. In failing to consider the social issues of today, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 creates a film that uses the same tired ideas of its genre while planting a potentially destructive idea in the minds of audiences today.
