Teamwork is a key theme that presents itself in many superhero movies. In movies such as X-Men, The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers Assemble the humble superhero is not enough to defeat the super-villain and a team of superheroes is the only way to save the day.

Good Vs Evil forms another large part of the narratives that we see within superhero movies. Usually following Todorov's theory of equilibrium, the superhero must fight against evil to save the ordinary people of whichever metropolis they serve to protect. The clearest good vs evil narratives of all time have includes Batman vs The Joker, X-Men vs Magneto and Superman vs Lex Luther.

For every Superman there is a Lois Lane. All superhero movies involve the damsel in distress in some form or another and in many ways they usually also include some sort of love story. Superman and Lois, Batman and Selina Kyle, Elektra and Mark. The relationships aren't always romantic though, sometimes they are more paternal in the case of Wolverine and Rogue in X-Men.

Violence is a key theme that presents itself in every superhero movie from Superman all the way through to the most recent superhero movies of The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman. Violence put the audience in an uncomfortable place as ordinary people are seemingly dominated by the common super-villain.

Justice and the fight for forms a significant theme within superhero movies. Movies such as Superman present very clear boundaries of right and wrong and justice underpins the film. As film has developed, and in the wake of 9/11, the hero and the fight for justice has transformed itself from black and white to appear much grayer. Take Christopher Nolan's Batman for instance, he often appears to do the wrong thing to achieve the right result.

Films like X-Men have presented clear narratives that discuss the issue of personal and physical difference and how these are dealt with in society. For instance, X-Men presents it's narrative in the backdrop of tensions between humans and mutants. Where Professor Xavier wants to preserve the peace, Magneto is much more proactive in his attempts to protect his mutant race.

The city setting is a theme/convention that can be found in almost all superhero movies at some point. Although Elektra does break this trend with much of the narrative taking place in woodland, the city forms an important backdrop to any superhero movie. With many places to hide, immoral folk around every corner and masses of people to flock terrified in the face of the super-villain the city and it's people are a staple superhero convention.

Science and technology appears to form a central thread to any narrative within a superhero film. Whether it is the new renewable energy source that Bane transforms into a nuclear bomb, or the new science that allows a scientist to turn into a lizard in The Amazing Spiderman, new science and the dangers of human's meddling with it form a common theme.