movies

Which is to say that absolutely, you are right that theme is important because ultimately theme is context.

I do wonder how much of this belongs, not to the creator, but to the viewer/reader.

There's that great example with Ray Bradbury telling people that Fahrenheit 451 was not about fascism until someone pointed out to him how it absolutely was.

I think the slightly casual, almost throwaway comment that I started this with was more about the fact that, specifically Marvel, films have become all theme and no story.

The standard superhero narrative of "Bad guy gets weapon, or does something bad and Superhero A must stop them" doesn't sustaing multiple franchises.

Couple that with the classic trauma genesis story which forms the obligatory introduction arc.

Marvel films have become about themes almost entirely to the point where characters and story are interchangable. Take the latest captain America... Almost any other Marvel character could have played the same role in that film... The narrative is so weak that it doesn't matter. The themes are grand and perhaps even important (a bright red tyrannical monster rampaging in the whitehouse) but the story is what let's it down.

These stories are weak and we've seen them multiple times now. It doesn't matter how often we change the themes, whether the film is about fascism in America, finding friendship and family, or the perils of unchecked science... These themes ultimately fall flat when the underlying structure, the story, used to convey them is weak.

Sure, all art is usually about something, and those themes can be important, but I stand by what I said... If you want Superhero films to see any good they need to shrug off the notion of being entirely about symbology and theme and maybe have some gripping story.