It’s a very good time to be a superhero fan. After being the subject of ridicule for generations, superheroes have finally been embraced by mainstream pop culture. As a result, film studios, TV networks, and streaming services have been acquiring the rights to as many superhero properties as they can in order to bring them from our local comic book shops to our various screens. They're so abundant that we barely scratched the surface by ranking the 100 top superhero movies.
While some may call this “superhero fatigue,” others might refer to this trend as an embarrassment of riches. Sure, not every Marvel or DC movie is universally praised. Just like rom-coms, sitcoms or basically any action movie, even the “bad” ones can still bring joy to the fanbase in some way. But good or bad, fans of the genre are now treated to a wide variety super-powered tales to choose from.
Although, with so many options, it may be daunting to dive in and find the next cape and cowl adventure to capture our imaginations amidst the sea of streaming shows. In an effort to make things easier for our readers, we have scoured the apps to find some of the best superhero shows that are currently streaming.
'Ms. Marvel'
Introduced to the MCU in her own Disney Plus series before appearing on the big screen alongside Brie Larson and Teyonah Paris in "The Marvels," Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel spends a good chunk of her origin story not only navigating her mysterious new superpowers but also learning what it means to be a 16-year-old Pakistani-American who lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Despite a less than favorable reaction from some fans at first, the miniseries created by Bisha K. Ali is the incredible first chapter for Kamala, who is arguably one of the best Marvel Studios characters introduced since "Avengers: Endgame." She’s a goofy teen who struggles to find a balance between her superhero life and her everyday life. That’s not only incredibly relatable, but it also sounds like another young hero that we all know and love who happens to have an affinity for arachnids. Yes, I am saying that Ms. Marvel is like Spider-Man, but she certainly stands on her own merits as well.
Like many of Marvel Studios’ other shows, "Ms. Marvel" opens up an entirely new corner of the MCU filled with amazing characters that we can’t get enough of. It’s fun, exciting, comedic, and action-packed. Also, it’s diverse and educational in a very accessible way. With representation in media being so important, this show works on so many levels, so everyone should really give it a chance.
Watch on Disney Plus
'Doom Patrol'
At this point, the list goes from good wholesome fun to absolutely bonkers thanks to "Doom Patrol." But at the same time, this might be one of the best live-action shows from DC Entertainment in the past ten years.
Originally developed as an exclusive series for the DC Universe streaming service, the "Titans" spinoff debuted there in 2019, moved to HBO Max (later just Max) in 2020 and completed its four-season run in 2023. Throughout that time, the team of outcasts consisting of Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), Negative Man (Matt Bomer), Robotman (Brendan Fraser), and Cyborg (Joivan Wade) encountered sex ghosts, a sentient genderqueer street with the power of teleportation, and vicious were-butts, among many other equally strange things. But as they deal with increasingly unusual events and threats, as well as their own tragic origin stories, the Doom Patrol finally begins to step into their roles as a superhero team and a family. Amidst all the craziness, "Doom Patrol" has a lot of really poignant things to say that are delivered by an extraordinary cast.
Watch on Max
'Misfits'
From one team of misfits to another, the next show on our list comes from the United Kingdom. "Misfits" tells the story of a group of young people in a community service program who gain superpowers after a mysterious electrical storm. Rather than being based on an existing superhero property, series creator Howard Overman presented a much more grounded and realistic take on the genre. Basically, "Misfits" is what you get if the celebrated British teen drama "Skins" was mashed up with "Fantastic Four" and that conversation in Kevin Smith’s "Mallrats" about superhero sex organs.
This sci-fi dramedy also served as a launchpad for a number of cast members. Antonia Thomas from seasons 1-3 went on to star in "The Good Doctor" on ABC. Robert Sheehan and Joe Gilgun stuck with comic booky projects with "The Umbrella Academy" and "Preacher," respectively. And probably most well-known of all, Welsh actor Iwan Rheon played the maniacal Ramsay Bolton in the acclaimed HBO series "Game of Thrones."
Today, we have shows like "The Boys" and "Gen V" to satisfy cravings for superhero offerings unrelated to Marvel or DC that show how real people might act after being introduced to superpowers. But before they came to fruition, the Tumblr crowd was all over this acclaimed E4 series.
Watch on Hulu
'Extraordinary'
Similar to "Misfits" in that it comes to us from across the pond, "Extraordinary" takes a much more comedic approach to superpowers. In this world created by Emma Moran, citizens unlock superpowers around the age of 18. Maybe they gain the ability to speak to the dead. Or they can fly or control time. But for Jen, a 25-year-old shop worker with very little ambition, no powers have manifested yet and she’s having trouble coming to terms with that.
To give you an idea of the tone of the show, one of the main characters is a cat named Jizzlord. The audience meets him when Jen takes him in. Then, he turns out to be a shapeshifter who has been stuck as in his feline form for a number of years. As a result, Jizzlord has very little memory of his past life or who he really is. What he does know though is that he loves Jen and she has some reciprocal feelings for him as well.
As goofy as that sounds, it really works. Moran has an excellent knack for coming up with some of the most outrageous powers and masterfully tying them to a character’s narrative to add layers that are a joy to peel back. Of course, if you don’t want to dig too deeply into the carefully crafted characters, "Extraordinary" is an awesome live-action superhero sitcom. For whatever reason, that’s been a difficult thing to pull off, but this show totally nails it. And with only two seasons consisting of sixteen approximately 30-minute episodes so far, it’s a quick and easy binge.
Watch on Hulu
'Batman: The Brave and the Bold'
Before their modern boom in popularity, the most common place for millennials to find superheroes on TV was in cartoons like "Batman: The Animated Series." Alternatively, there were also reruns of the classic live-action "Batman" series starring Adam West. Well, DC Entertainment took those two avenues and mashed them together to get "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."
Running from 2008 to 2011 on Cartoon Network for three seasons, this animated series starring Diedrich Bader in the titular role took a lighter approach to the Dark Knight. Each episode featured Gotham City’s legendary vigilante teaming up with a different hero(es) to take down a threat somewhere in the DC Universe. One minute, the Caped Crusader is traveling through time to fight alongside Jonah Hex in the Wild West. Then, he has to find a way to break Aquaman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow free from Music Meister’s maniacal and musical hypnosis. Batman even finds himself fighting alongside his archnemesis The Joker at one point.
For those who grew up on Batman and are looking for an easy way to introduce your kids to the mythology of DC Comics, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" is a great place to start. But even if you’re watching without any kids, the show is still a lot of fun.
Watch on Max
'DC's Legends of Tomorrow'
After lasting just over a decade on The CW, the Arrowverse came to a close in 2023 when "The Flash" concluded its ninth and final season. Any of the six main shows that made up this expanded universe could have easily filled this spot on our list. Although, as good as the other DC Comics shows were during that run, "Legends of Tomorrow" really didn’t get the love it deserved.
The spinoff of "Arrow" and "The Flash" launched in 2016 as a time-traveling superhero drama featuring some familiar faces from across the Arrowverse such as Firestorm, the Atom, the White Canary, Captain Cold and Heatwave. Eventually, the show began to loosen up and really lean into meta-humor and social commentary. But above all, the Legends would often be confronted by the ramifications of their own actions. Barry Allen could travel back in time and royally mess something up, but then he’d eventually bring things back to normal in an episode or two. For the crew of the Waverider, there was no normal because things were constantly changing. Sometimes it was for the better, but more often than not, it was for the worst.
The Legends had to deal with so much stuff over the course of seven seasons. As overwhelming as that may sound, it was a whole lot of fun. From historical figures to obscure comic book characters to a giant killer plushie named Beebo, there was no shortage of interesting people to cross paths with this eclectic team of heroes. But fair warning: The show ends on a cliffhanger due to the extensive changes to the Arrowverse finale that were made due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" is still a great watch, particularly if you’re a fan of time travel.
Watch on Netflix
'American Born Chinese'
Finally, the last entry on this list of superhero shows that you can stream right now has a little bit of something from each recommendation that came before it. There’s cultural representation, fun team-ups, outcasts, unexpected superpowers, comedic moments and even a bit of time travel to a certain extent. All that and much more can be found in "American Born Chinese."
Based on the acclaimed 2006 graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, this Disney Plus series from Kelvin Yu and Destin Daniel Cretton found an epic way to update this tale about the difficulties of representing two separate cultures harmoniously. This idea plays out in a few different ways. But mainly we have Jin Wang, who tries to reconcile his identity as both a child of Chinese immigrants and a typical American high schooler, and Wei-Chen, a Chinese exchange student who turns out to be an ancient warrior that wants to break out from his father’s imposing shadow to stop an impending war.
"American Born Chinese" is an exciting adventure with unmatched fight choreography, thoughtful writing and a stellar cast filled with up-and-coming stars and legends of the business. Even though it drifted from the source material, the show smartly evolved from Yang’s original work to create something that resonated with modern audiences. It’s absolutely criminal that it wasn’t renewed for a second season after garnering much acclaim, but at least we can go back and revisit this seminal work that does an incredible job depicting the Asian American experience with a fantastical twist.
Watch on Disney Plus
