Bat Therapy: Mental Health through the Lens of Comics and Film

We give our last thoughts about the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie now that we have two trailers and the official Disney+ watch before seeing watchlist.

Spoilers (duh). Watch this movie immediately. Yes, suspend some disbelief that Frank Castle is in something that isn’t Rated R, but we really enjoyed this movie. Lots of great psychologist related topics related to Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, and even Black Widow / Yelena Belova.

There are so many characters we have not talked about that might be in Avengers: Doomsday. We took some time to chat about some of them. Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, Peggy Carter, Spider-Man, Deadpool, Scarlet Witch…who can say?

The MCU has hinted enough – give us the Young Avengers! While preparing for this episode, Keeden started to wonder what the difference is between psychotherapy for adults and for children and adolescents. We asked Dr. Sasha Jaquez, a board-certified clinical health psychologist with over 10 years of experience working with children and young adults, to join us to talk about psychotherapy for teenage superheroes.

We discuss the confirmed characters for Avengers: Doomsday that we have not discussed yet this season. Is Loki going to have sage wisdom or continue being his prankster self? What in the heck has Shang-Chi been up to? Is this Gambit going to be with the other X-Men? And how stressed out is poor Sam Wilson after all this Captain America and Avengers nonsense?

Psychologist Dr. Emilia Brown provides her Recruitment Assessment for the Avengers Initiative on The Punisher / Frank Castle. Spoiler Alert: Probably not a good fit. We highly recommend The Punisher: One Last Kill. Excellent from a psychological perspective.

Wait. There’s an MCU team-up with HEALTHY approaches to relationships and team dynamics? Heck yeah there is! We love The Marvels. Watch it. Then watch Ms. Marvel, because Kamala Khan continues to be one of the most delightful characters we have talked about. We have no idea if these characters will be in Avengers: Doomsday, but we hope so.

Psychologist Dr. Emilia Brown provides her Recruitment Assessment for the Avengers Initiative on Scott Lang, the current Ant-Man. Do Scott Lang’s optimism and easy-going nature make him a prime candidate for the Avengers or is he too prone to getting himself caught? Dr. Brown and Keeden may disagree about whether his biggest worth to the Avengers is that he is expendable, but one thing is for sure. Scott Lang is likely the most resilient and mentally healthy Avenger. Also, Wasp would be a great Avenger (duh).

Psychologist Dr. Emilia Brown provides her Recruitment Assessment for the Avengers Initiative on Daredevil / Matt Murdock. Although he might not be in the upcoming movie (we shall see!), his character could have potential uses for an Avengers team. We discuss the start of season two of Daredevil: Born Again, and Dr. Brown reacts to Dr. Heather Glenn’s unethical use of the MMPI.

With all the death and restructuring of leadership, how will Wakanda show up in Avengers: Doomsday? And what will the combination of Shuri, M’Baku, and Namor look like given what happened in Wakanda Forever? A psychologist weighs in.