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It was a Saturday night in 1995.

I was tired, and perhaps for that reason my dad allowed me to stay in the family room and watch the movie he had rented, "Batman Forever."

As the movie began, I sat in awe as images of a strange man in a thick black body suit, cape and cowl raced across the screen. My dad told me this was Batman, and he was on his way to foil a bank robbery in progress.

After watching Batman's first showdown with Two-Face, I was hooked. Never mind that I didn't understand any of the movie's talky exposition; upon seeing "Batman Forever," I became wrapped up in the antics of superheroes.

The fact I can recall seeing Batman for the first time isn't entirely surprising. No longer restricted to the frequenters of comic book shops -- as they had been in decades past -- superheroes have become a large part not only of our popular culture, but of our everyday lives.

Consider the following: A person who is very strong may be nicknamed Superman. Countless kids dress as their favorite superheroes for Halloween. And whenever anyone utters the phrase, "With great power comes great responsibility," it's tough not to think of the words as spoken by Peter Parker's uncle in Sam Raimi's 2002 "Spider-Man" movie.

On the surface, the main reason for the popularity of superheroes is each one's power. Superheroes wouldn't be superheroes without special powers.

The ability to fly is one that many of us would surely enjoy having -- and one that Superman puts to use frequently. Scaling walls and swinging from rooftops like Spider-Man would also be quite the trip. However, I would like some kind of psychic ability, which in the "X-Men" universe is as common as someone having an iPod in the real world.

As appealing as superpowers are, there are also deeper currents that explain the reason behind the legacy superhero mythology has built over the years.

The first is in the person under the mask. Before being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker was just an average guy living his life. Yet even after taking up the guise of the famed web-slinger, he remains a conflicted person with personal struggles.

In a sense, many superheroes are just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations. And though the human element may not appear in a showdown with a villain, it's there whenever the mask is off -- and gives deeper meaning and impact to what may seem to be just a mere piece of entertainment.

The other is the pitting of good versus evil. No matter what point we're at in our lives, we want to see the hero come out victorious against the villain.

Such an idea can gain significance in uncertain times. Consider the times in which some superheroes began their lives on the comic book pages. For example, Captain America was created specifically in response to World War II. And while the recent "Iron Man" film is rooted in current conflicts in the Middle East conflict, the character got its start in the pages of comic book in the midst of the Vietnam War.

But the biggest reason for the endurance of superheroes in the public eye is in how much of a desired fantasy they turn out to be. Many of these heroes take a stand for truth and justice, which is what we like to see both in ourselves and others.

Considering that some characters, like Batman and Superman, have been around since the 1930s, superheroes have already had something of a generation-crossing legacy. And so long as they continue to identify with the dreams and wishes of the public, that legacy will continue.

* Andy Carroll attends La Salle High School.