Conspiracy Theory in Fiction
While researching the topic of conspiracy theory and propaganda for this Comic-Con @ Home panel, I came to a very important realization about not only pop culture, but storytelling in general.
There are very few conspiracy theories in fiction, but there are almost always conspiracies. In fact, conspiracies are the backbone of the best stories ever told.
Confused. Yea, I was too. I just learned that conspiracy theories and conspiracies are not the same. Let’s talk a look at the definitions.
A conspiracy theory is a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for a circumstance or event.
A conspiracy is a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.
In short, conspiracies are real. Conspiracy theories are alleged.
Conspiracy theorist believe some group or person is behind some “unexplainable” event. Rarely these beliefs turn out to be true, but in fiction, the conspiracy is always true. The conspiracy is why we are engaged. The conspiracy moves the story. The conspiracy is fun.
We as the audience have an inclination to find out what the shadowy cabal or big bad is up to and more importantly why they have put their nefarious plan in motion. Hell, sometimes our protagonists are apart of a conspiracy of themselves.
Conspiracies are ingrained in our storytelling. And comic books, TV shows, movies, and books have some of the best conspiracies ever written.
Here are some of my favorites.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Friends of Humanity
(X-Men: The Animated Series)
I know there’s a Legacy Virus in the standard marvel comics universe, but X-Men: The Animated Series take on the infamous X-Men story is possibly the first time I was exposed/interested in a conspiracy in pop culture. The Friends of Humanity is an anti-mutant hate group led by the bigoted Graydon Creed.
They may be a public organization but behind closed doors, they are conspirators that plan horrible things against the mutant population.
One of their most nefarious plots was infecting innocent people with the legacy virus and claiming mutants were the ones who had caused the plague. Rewatching these episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series hits a lot harder now given the current climate. What’s even more interesting about the Legacy Virus and its origins spawn from real life and the fear of HIV and AIDS and how people vilified certain groups for being the carriers.
OZYMANDIAS
(Watchmen)
The interpersonal relations between washed up superheroes is at the foreground of the Alan Moore’s Watchmen, but Rorschach never lets the reader forget there is a conspiracy at play behind the scenes. And you should be wise to listen to him.
If given the option, would you sacrifice the population of New York City to save the world from nuclear holocaust? Ozymandias wouldn’t hesitate. In fact, he did it 30 minutes ago.
Andrian Veidt aka Ozymandias. The smartest man in any room and the cynical conspirator behind the horrific events of Watchmen. And let’s be honest, no one stood a chance at stopping him. Even the heroes of watchmen were too late to stop him and one of them is essentially a god.
It’s not the money, brains, or superior athleticism that makes Ozymandias dangerous. It’s his conviction and deadly ability to execute a plan that killed millions of lives and not waver. In fact, he celebrated. After all he saved the world.
Watchmen doesn’t end on a good note but at least you get to see the conspirators plan play out. Good or bad Ozymandias is cemented as one of the all-time greatest comic book conspirators.
The Justice League
(Identity Crisis)
If you’re a fan of conspiracies, Identity Crisis is chock full of them. The series follows a tragedy in the super hero community, an old wound is pried open that challenges many heroes at their core, and mobilizes villains against them.
Before I get into the conspiracy bit, I have to tell you this is one of the darkest Justice League stories and also one of my favorites. It pushes the envelop of interpersonal story telling in the DC universe and gives you an in depth look at how the superhero community operates. It’s not pretty.
There are multiple conspiracies within Identity crisis but the one that stands out the most is a small group of Justice Leaguers… that take it into their own hands to fix villains.
Green Arrow, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Atom, Black Canary, Hawkman, and Zatanna take it upon themselves to wipe the minds of villains that get to close to harming the Justice League. Not only do they mind wipe them they make the villains dumber and even take away their deadlier abilities.
Writer Brad Meltzer is a genius when creating this “cabal” of Justice leaguer as their meddling is gives other writers the ability to retcon any DC supervillain that seems simple. Meltzer for example made Dr. Light seem like an absolute monster.
I don’t want to give too much away with this one, but it I’ll just leave you with on of my favorite lines from the series…
“Namtab Pots!”
The Illuminati
(Marvel-616)
While in the real world the Illuminati is a conspiracy theory? In the Marvel Universe, the Illuminati is real and possibly my favorite superhero team.
Marvel’s Illuminati feeds off the real conspiracy theory of THE secret group manipulating the world from the shadows. But instead of the Rothschild’s or Beyonce in their place are a team of Earth’s most powerful superheroes. The original member’s of the Illuminati - Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Namor, Black Bolt, and Professor X - have united in secret as a proactive force manipulating the Marvel Universe from behind the scenes to keep the world “safe”.
The funny thing about the Illuminati is they fuck up more things than they fix. They’ve been the cause of the majority of Marvels big events. There would be no Planet Hulk or World War Hulk if they didn’t blast Bruce Banner off into space. There would be no Secret Invasion if this group of smart bois, didn’t raid the throne world of the Skull Empire leaving behind their DNA to start their power cloning experiments.
The Illuminati may have started off as a one off plot device, but it slowly became a true team within the pages of Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers. From 2013-2015, Hickman put the team through their paces as they secretly raced to save the multiverse from collapsing (an event that would lead to Secret War). So many things manage to happen during that run but these are a few of my favorites:
The Illuminati recruit Captain America.
They Regret recruiting Captain America.
They use the Infinity Gauntlet to destroy a planet.
The accidentally “destroy” the infinity stones.
They proceed to destroy more Earths. (Albeit to save their own)
Black Panther and Namor try to kill each other. (Black Panther almost succeeds)
Thanos takes over Wakanda.
I really suggest reading Hickman’s Avengers run. It’s chock full of goodies.
I hope you enjoyed learning about my favorite conspiracies. To learn more about conspiracy theory and propaganda be sure to check out this comic-con @ home panel.
