Seite - 59 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 03/01

The Problem of Evil | 59www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 59–74 Toufic El-Khoury The Problem of Evil in DC Universe Animated Movies, 2007–2016 DC Multiverse, an Ironic Illustration of Leibniz’s Theodicy? ABstrACt this article explores the question of evil and its metaphysical and moral implications in a series of animated movie adaptations of the DC Universe produced since 2006. the contemporary evolution of the medium, called the “iron Age of comics”, has seen the auto-reflexive nature of comics produce problems and themes related to the main question discussed in Christian theodicy: how can we perceive and define the possibility of evil in a world where God’s omnipotence should have eliminated such a possibility? Moreover, why does evil seem to spread indefinitely in spite of all the efforts deployed by superheroes to stop evil? We will discuss the problem of evil as a natural narrative topic in light of comics’ mythological and religious roots and with a particular study case: DC Comics Multiverse as an illustration of Leibniz’s “best of all possible worlds” argument. KeyWOrDs DC comics, animated movies, cinema, theodicy, problem of evil, Leibniz. BiOGrAPhy Toufic El-Khoury is a lecturer and coordinator at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux- Arts and at the Université saint-Joseph, Beirut. he holds an MA in Philosophy (Uni- versité saint-Joseph) and a PhD in film studies (Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7). he is the director of the collection “Cinématographies” (Orizons, Paris) and the author of La comédie hollywoodienne classique (1929–1945): Structure triadique et médiations du désir (2016). As the result of external or intra-generic influences, every movie genre organ- izes and matures in its aesthetics, its codes, and its thematic, triggering the cu- riosity of philosophy.1 In the field of Film Studies, philosophers have recently 1 We follow the definition of a movie genre suggested by Rick Altman and Raphaëlle Moine: the se- mantic-syntactic-pragmatic definition. The semantic elements are the narrative and visuals codes, the