On Weezer’s 1994 debut record, the Blue Album, frontman Rivers Cuomo had Kitty Pryde–and Nightcrawler too. In “Hero,” the second single off the band’s upcoming, heavy metal-inspired Van Weezer, it would appear Cuomo’s become Iron Fist, along with a few other iconic comic book heroes.
In the opening verse of “Hero,” Cuomo sings:
When I was a kid I thought I’d save the world,
Running ’round and chasing all the criminals.
Swinging on a web, flying in the sky,
Shooting lasers from my eyes.
Later, Cuomo belts:
I’d hammer down hard like I’m Iron Fist,
Then disappear like I don’t exist.
OK, so “swinging on a web” is Spider-Man, of course. “Flying in the sky” could be any number of heroes, but let’s just assume Superman (sorry, Sentry!). “Shooting lasers from my eyes” could also be multiple characters, including Superman. But as I established in my 2018 should-have-won-an-Eisner Award article, “The X-Men-Weezer connection: Does it go deeper than ‘In the Garage,’ I truly believe Cuomo is a fan of the X-Men’s Cyclops. As a result, this lyric is a reference to none other than Scott Summers.
(Yes, I know they’re optic blasts and not lasers–just go with it, I’m building an argument across multiple articles!)
And then it’s pretty obvious who that Iron Fist shout-out’s about (hopefully comics Danny Rand and not the star of that Netflix show I couldn’t get through). “Then disappear like I don’t exist” could be a reference to the Invisible Woman but I’m really stretching now–Mister Fantastic-style.
Now the pre-chorus and chorus, that’s where Cuomo taps into that X-Fan we remember from “In the Garage.”
Because on the inside,
I know it won’t last,
On the inside,
I’m an outcast.
Everybody needs a hero,
But I’m not everybody else I walk alone,
Yeah I walk alone, yeah I walk alone.
You know I tried to be a hero,
But I was lying to myself I walk alone,
Yeah I walk alone, yeah I walk alone.
Hm, you’re an outcast, Rivers? Could you have assumed the voice of one of Marvel’s most famous outcasts? Wolverine perhaps? Or even Cyclops post-Avengers vs. X-Men? Both tried to be a hero, and both have faced times when they walk alone.
Image Credit: Marvel Comics
I guess we’ll only know the truth until Rivers Cuomo agrees to appear in my weekly X-Men Monday column and talk comics. (Sorry, Chris Claremont, Varz is my dream guest!)
Until that day, any answers to these Weezer questions will remain… only in dreams.
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