We are truly living in a golden age of superhero content.
Not only are big screen versions of our favorite characters breaking records at the box office, there are more options for those who love comic book-inspired stories on the small screen than ever before. And as the genre just keeps becoming more and more popular,everyone– from traditional networks to niche streaming platforms – wants in. Which means that, as viewers, we get to see an increasingly diverse array of properties adapted for our enjoyment.
Let’s be real: Didanyoneever think we’d see actual TV versions ofDoom PatrolorUmbrella Academy? Or watch five different series build toward what seems as though it will be an epic small screen take onCrisis on Infinite Earths? Even as we bid goodbye to series likeThe PunisherandGotham,exciting new properties likeBatwomanandWatchmenwait on the horizon, alongside new seasons of many (many) others. And that’s not even counting the fact that the upcoming Disney+ service may well throw nearly a half dozen new Marvel series at us before the year’s over.
Sleep is for the weak, is what I’m saying.
Let’s check in on where we stand to date with superhero series in 2019, some of which are better than others, but almost all are worth your time.
A note: DC Universe’s latest superhero offering,Swamp Thing, is not yet on this list, as the series had yet to finish its first season when it was compiled. Stay tuned for our year-end update to see where it lands.
On with the show…
13. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Network: ABC
Status: Currently in Season 6
Over the years,Marvel’sAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.has drifted further and further from its original premise. What started as a procedural series based around the Earth agency whose job involved cleaning up the messes left behind by superheroes like the Avengers is now a…space drama? And there’s time travel? It’s real weird. (And kind of enough to make you furious when you realize that this series is still on TV when something like the far-superiorDaredevilisn’t.)
To be fair,S.H.I.E.L.D.is often still quite entertaining, and storylines like an evil Coulson from an alternate reality or Daisy and Simmons exploring deep space to find a cryogenically frozen Fitz from a different section of their timeline can be fun to watch. But it’s also very much not what any of us signed up for when this show began, and it’s hard to identify just what kind of showS.H.I.E.L.D.means to be these days. This iteration of the series, in particular, has little to ground us in its story or to connect us to these specific versions of the characters we once knew.
12. The Punisher
Network: Netflix
Status: Cancelled
It’s not clear that there really needed tobea second season of Marvel’sThe Punisher, so it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that the series’ second outing feels more than a little mediocre.
True, there’s plenty of action and bloodshed, and those that felt that Frank Castle didn’t spend enough time in Season 1 indiscriminately murdering people will find a lot to enjoy here. But if you were looking for a deeper conversation around why all these exhilarating and artfully arranged death sequences take place, not so much.
On the plus side,Jon Bernthalis once again fantastic as Frank, and his ferocious, unforgiving energy carriesThe Punisherthrough many of its weaker moments. But this isn’t the series his performance deserves.
11. The Gifted
Network: Fox
The Giftedwas the sort of series that always swung for the fences, even if the story it wanted to tell often ended up being too big for the scope of the show. Prevented from accessing any majorX-Mencharacters, it ended up having to build its own street-level battle between warring groups of C-list mutants – the Hellfire Club/Inner Circle, Mutant Underground and the Morlocks.
Initially, this conflict places several ofThe Gifted’smain characters at odds with one another over issues that span everything from mutant rights and government power to medical ethics and protest. But the story ultimately got bogged down in Stucker family drama and sidelined its strongest, most interesting character (Polaris, daughter ofX-Menlegend Magneto), ultimately becoming less than was initially promised.
But with its decision to let the bad guys win at the end of season 2 – killing off several major characters and unleashing a massive, deadly explosion that ostensibly takes out thousands of human bystanders in the process –The Giftedfinally fully embraced a darker, riskier tone. It’s too bad we won’t get to see what might have happened next.
10. The Flash
Network: The CW
Status: Renewed for Season 6
The arrival of Nora, Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future, was a breath of fresh air in Season 5 ofThe Flash. Not only did her presence add a new dynamic to the West-Allen relationship, it letThe Flashplay around with the idea of its own legacy. The season’s best episodes mirrored Barry’s original journey in his daughter’s story, right down to her connection with to his first nemesis, Eobard Thawne.The Flashalso pulled off some much-needed narrative corrections with Killer Frost and Ralph in Season 5, providing one with a complicated past to explore and finally integrating the other into the core group in an organic way.
Unfortunately, however, Season 5 features the worst Big Bad in series’ history, which brings almost everything else down along with it. On paper, a faceless Jack the Ripper-style metahuman killer seems like a fresh threat. In actuality, Cicada never managed to live up to his own hype, andThe Flashcouldn’t seem to settle on a real direction or arc for the character. In the end, even replacing original Cicada Owen Dwyer with a vengeance-fueled version of his niece from the future – don’t ask – did little to make this final battle one worth caring about.
9. Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger
Network: Freeform
Status: Just concluded Season 2
The first season ofCloak and Daggerserves as an intriguing origin story for our two heroes, Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen, teenagers blessed with the powers of light and dark. It does so by focusing on their lives, backgrounds and the places that they’ve each carved for themselves in the city of New Orleans.
Season 2 leaves much of this character work behind in favor of increased action and more powerful villains and, in doing so, has lost some of what made the show feel fresh. This isn’t to say thatCloak and Dagger’ssecond season is bad – it isn’t. But itismarkedly different from the series’ inaugural outing, in ways that take some getting used to. Season 1’s focus on things like drugs, police corruption and corporate greed certain feels more grounded than a story in which Brigid literally becomes two people, one of whom is a villain or upping Tandy’s powers to such a level that she can take out cars on her own.
However, Tandy and Tyrone’s connection remains as strong as ever, and no matter what else happens that makes the season worth watching.
8. The Tick
Network: Amazon Prime
Here’s the thing aboutThe Tick. You’re probably going to either love it or hate it. It’s a superhero series that skewers pretty much everything we love about superhero series, and if satire is your thing, then climb aboard, because this show is for you. If that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable or leaves you feeling lost, well…maybe not so much. (And that’s okay. This type of humor reallyisn’tfor everybody.)
However, superhero-related media has so thoroughly saturated our pop culture these days that the jokes are easier than ever to understand, and land in a way that they likely wouldn’t have even as recently as 2017 when the first season of this show dropped. There’s a villain whose actual name is Lobstercules, a sentient ship called Dangerboat and a teen henchman who goes by Edgelord. The show makes its heroesdo paperwork. And it all just works, even if the humor can occasionally skirt the line oftooon the nose.
But in a way, we’re all comics fans now, whether we intend to be or not, andThe Tickassumes that means we’re also aware of how completely ridiculous this genre we all enjoy so much is. But as it joyfully breaks down many of the genre’s flaws, it does so with enough heart that we remember why these stories matter in the first place.
Status: Concluded after Season 5
Gothamis the ultimate guilty pleasure of superhero shows. Having long ago abandoned the idea that it was a grittyBatmanprequel, the show decided to fully lean in to its own insanity, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the series’ final season. As an isolated Gotham divides into Westerosi-like warring regions, we’re treated to everything from death cults to girl gangs toMad Max-style weapons dealers. And that’s all before we get to the scenery chewing one-upsmanship between sometime BFFs Oswald Cobblepot and Edward Nygma, or the fact that Jeremiah Valeska is apparently both the Joker and functionally immortal. (Kidding, kidding – but seriously, how is that dude still alive?)
Gothamisn’t a particularly deep show, nor is it always a good one. The GCPD is consistently staffed by either the most corrupt or the stupidest officers in the multiverse, and it’s not entirely clear why anyone ever goes to a party, club opening or other social event in this town expecting to live through the night. But in its final season,Gothamgave full rein to its weirdest tendencies and, in turn, actually managed to offer us a take on the Bat-saga we hadn’t seen before. One that didn’t actually need Batman to be worth watching.
6. Black Lightning
Status: Renewed for Season 3
Black Lightningis a superhero show that’s often better at telling real-life stories than it is superpowered ones. Part of that is due to the fact that, unlike other CW Arrowverse properties, it tends to steer clear from the classic villain-of-the-week set-up in favor of more extended “chapters” that tie back into a larger story. Sometimes that works, and sometimes…it doesn’t, leading to some occasionally unfocused and messy storytelling. (There’s only so many times you need to hear Tobias Whale monologue evilly, if you ask me.)
But there’s no other superhero show on TV that tackles social issues as forthrightly asBlack Lightningdoes, and as a series it offers a much-needed perspective that this genre desperately needs. And Season 2’s focus on the Pierce daughters as they work to understand and use their powers is compelling stuff, precisely because it’s so firmly grounded inBlack Lightning’sfocus on family and community.
5. Supergirl
Status: Renewed for Season 5
Supergirlhas always worn its proverbial heart on its sleeve, but Season 4 takes things to the next level. Rather than the oversimplified girl power identity it embraced in its earlier seasons, the show instead devotes itself to tackling more thorny contemporary issues such as race relations, immigration, xenophobia, political corruption and more, all with its signature hopeful style. (Kara zor El can apparently convinceanybodythat optimism is a necessary act, is all I’m saying.)
Occasionally, the show’s real life parallels are a littletooon the nose – this is a season that literally puts Lex Luthor in the White House, after all. (And to his credit, Jon Cryer is surprisingly great.) But Season 4 does the show’s best job yet of exploring the heroism involved in both sides of Kara’s life – as a reporter and as Supergirl – while still offering a slate of compelling, nuanced villains for her to face. The addition of Nia and Brainy to the team is a fantastic move, as is the show’s decision to finally reckon with the fact that Kara’s kept Lena Luthor in the dark about her secret identity for years, a move which seems likely to fuel much of the plot next year.
4. Doom Patrol
Network: DC Universe
Status: Officially unknown, though Season 2 is rumored to film in Summer 2019
2019 is apparently the year of utterly bonkers superhero series that successfully challenge what this genre is capable of as a whole.Doom Patrol, the second offering from the DC Universe streaming service, focuses on a group of weirdo misfits with bizarre powers. In that vein, it’s not entirely dissimilar from shows likeLegends of TomorroworUmbrella Academy, but whatDoom Patroldoes best is embrace the heart at the center of its strangeness.
The characters at the core of the story – Robotman, Elasti-girl, Negative Man and Crazy Jane – are all broken in realistic, relatable ways, andDoom Patroldoesn’t shy away from delving deep into their various emotional issues. These are characters who often feel more human than hero, and watching them grow and evolve is fascinating in a way that has nothing to do with their abilities.
Best of all, the show never takes itself too seriously, as its dry, self-aware narration (“Aren’t you sick of superhero shows?”) makes evident. Just in case, you know, the farting, multi-dimensional donkey didn’t tip you off. I honestly didn’t expect to evenlikethis series, but can’t I wait to see where it goes next.
