How would the bourgeoisie react if eighty percent of the world’s population suddenly found themselves armed with a gun or a tank or a drone capable of dropping a nuclear weapon? This is essentially the problem facing the capitalist class in the world of My Hero Academia, an anime where most of the world’s population is endowed with a unique quirk. Some of these quirks are immensely powerful, capable of destroying buildings or even cities. If the desperation created among the proletariat by capitalism can drive people in reality to violent crime, imagine the temptation of someone who was desperate and had immense power.
The police still exist, as does the military, but just like in real life it doesn’t appear to be the most desirable job, and those with the most powerful quirks seem to be uninterested in these professions. Someone needs to protect private property from the quirking having poor, and make sure those who are particularly powerful are kept track of. The bourgeois of the My Hero world kill two birds with one stone by creating a new profession to dominate the collective consciousness: heroes.
Being a hero is a job, specifically a government job. Those with powerful quirks can attend elite schools, become licensed, and so long as they follow a list of strict rules and regulations, work on resolving criminal cases on behalf of the police, often which include fighting quirk holding villains. The heroes are paid based on how many cases they resolve, and ranked based on a combination of cases and fan support. They are also allowed to profit off their popularity, with some appearing in advertisements or selling off their services for security.
It’s a difficult job however. Crime rates are high, villains are powerful, and the public is often unappreciative. Even more so, things aren’t improving. The most elite hero school’s motto is “Plus Ultra.” Heroes are encouraged to go beyond their capabilities to defeat the villains of the world. It’s the perfect explanation of capitalism too, always accelerating, always demanding those that hold the ends together strain harder.
This is the most realistic portrayal of superheroes under capitalism. Unlike the cynical world of The Boys, which seems to focus more on creating edgy talking points for people to tweet about, the Randian nightmare of the recent DC movies, or the upbeat military propaganda of the Marvel movies, My Hero presents a world where the power to basically end all problems, either by using combat centered quirks to overthrow the bourgeois or creation quirks to redistribute resources, systems are legally, economically, and culturally in place to ensure these people become what are essentially child soldiers for the status quo.
As superheroes continue to dominate our own collective consciousness, they present a type of escapism that’s particularly sinister. It’s not just that they ask you to imagine someone like you, with your sense of humor or romantic interests, with the power to change things, they ask you to imagine having that power but not using it to enact any substantial change. My Hero Academia asks you instead to imagine what would it be like to have that power, and then find out its all completely meaningless?