In 2025 alone, there have been four major superhero movies and over ten TV shows related to major superhero franchises. And amidst all that, it’s fair to say that people are starting to feel fatigued by the genre — whether it’s the shockingly formulaic design Marvel has started leaning into, or DC rebooting yet again. And while plenty of superhero media is still finding success, it’s getting harder and harder to stand out — and even when something does, keep that momentum going. That’s exactly what makes Dispatch such a surprise, not just because it brings back the narrative trappings of Telltale Games, but because it also manages to neatly sidestep nearly all of that superhero fatigue. It’s one of the most refreshing hero stories we’ve seen in years, and the longer I’ve thought about it the more I start to understand why. It reminds me of the strong debut of one of my other favorite series — My Hero Academia.
When Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia manga debuted in 2014, it felt like a revelation. That same year the Marvel Cinematic Universe was hitting its fever pitch with Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Winter Soldier, creating the perfect opportunity for something else to capitalize on the superhero craze — and My Hero Academia did. And that’s largely because of how My Hero grounded its story, how it mixed the fantastical with the mundane.
