PhD Student
Rusty Hatchell is a doctoral candidate in media studies at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned his M.A. in media studies from The University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in English from Georgia Gwinnett College. His current research focuses on contemporary superhero television universes, particularly on the efforts to cultivate narrative continuity as well as the industrial production logics that help shape superhero television into its own distinct genre. In 2021, he was recognized as Outstanding Assistant Instructor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film, and in 2022, he was recognized for his Outstanding Service to the Department of Radio-Television-Film and was recipient of the Roderick P. Hart Student Achievement Award.
His scholarly work has appeared in Middle West Review, the Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, Flow: A Critical Forum on Media and Culture, In Media Res, and the edited collection After Midnight: Watchmen after Watchmen. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation, “Mapping the Multiverse: Narrative Continuity and Industrial Logics in the Shared Television Universes of DC’s Superheroes, 1992-2022,” which uses a longitudinal study of DC Comics’ expansion into television from 1992 to 2022 to examine how shared universes are emerging as a guiding principle of the media industries, influencing television production and distribution strategies.
Additionally, he has served in editorial roles with Flow: A Critical Forum on Media and Culture and The Velvet Light Trap. He has also served as the Graduate Student Representative for the Urbanism, Geography, and Architecture Scholarly Interest Group for the Society of Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) as well as Departmental Representative for UT-Austin’s Graduate Student Assembly. He is currently Affiliate with the Center for Entertainment and Media Industries (CEMI), based in the Moody College of Communication at UT-Austin.
Areas of Focus: Conglomerate Hollywood, Media Industries, Post-Network Television, Superhero Media, Television Studies, Television Franchises and Universes, Transmedia Storytelling