Streaming now for free on PBS, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” tells the story of two Jewish cousins in 1939 who together invent a comic book superhero called the Escapist to fight fascists. The opera, which launched the Metropolitan Opera’s current season, is composer Mason Bates and librettist Gene Scheer’s adaptation of Michael Chabon’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. 

When it made its debut at the Met last September, the opera reviews were not stellar. Sure, it would be hard to argue that the adaptation has the dizzying reach or exquisite language of the novel, or the gorgeous melodies of the most memorable operas. But it’s noteworthy for its stagecraft by director Bartlett Sher (best-known for his Broadway musical revivals, currently “Ragtime.”) The spectacle comes through even on a small screen, although admittedly not as awesomely (There are compensations, such as close-ups and captions.)

And the piece does engage us in a question that has become increasingly relevant, in such scenes as the imagined argument between Joe Cavalier and the (lone) Nazi in the show, who ridicules him for “clinging to the myth that art matters, as if a brush stroke could change the world. Bullets are all that matter.” 

Look for:

The catchy tune when we are introduced to the Empire Toys and Novelties, the company in Brooklyn where Sam Clay works, before he tries to convince his boss to go into comic book publishing.

The drawings that appear on screen as Sam and Joe Kavalier 

The same-sex kiss atop the Empire State Building between Sam and Tracy, the actor who portrays the Escapist in a radio drama.

The gay party that’s raided.

The appearance of the next superhero, the Luna Moth.

Click here for full recording.

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” is available through September 30, 2026.