10 Most Perfect Superhero Shows of the Last 10 Years, Ranked
Lisa Nordin is an actress, writer, and fan of all things performing arts. Her favorite genres are Sci-Fi and Fantasy. She is a self-published author and enjoys exploring how fictional stories help define and qualify the human experience.
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The superhero genre has seen a lot of traction over the past decade. From monster hits that revive comic book lore to animated series that dive into deeper themes, the options for superhero fans to choose from have been rich and varied. Superhero shows have changed with the Zeitgeist, and as audiences become more discerning, gone are the wacky antics and spandex pantsuits, as modern TV series ground themselves in realism while exploring more cerebral topics like multiverses and alternate dimensions.
As with any popular theme that is in high demand, there are series that rose to excellence and those that did not. The following titles not only created a terrific TV show that anyone could enjoy, but did credit to their comic book heritage as well. Whether you are an aficionado of classic TV shows or are brand new to the fandom, there is something for everyone to enjoy. These are the most perfect superhero shows of the last 10 years, ranked.
10 'Wonder Man' (2026)
It's tough to be an actor, and it's not easy to conceal that you have superhuman abilities either. The titular protagonist in Wonder Man has to deal with both. Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) goes on auditions and tries to hone his craft as a performer, all the while trying to keep his emotions in check, because if he lets loose, he can unleash a truly devastating power. At this pivotal time in his life, he is befriended by Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who has ulterior motives for getting close to him.
Wonder Man is a winner for comic fans and for those who love the entertainment industry. Although the amount of focus given to the entertainment industry seems self-serving, Wonder Man navigates both spheres and resonates on all the levels that it's meant to. Wonder Man sadly joins a growing list of shows that were beloved by audiences, but unceremoniously canceled by networks. The writing, and now it seems the series' own fate, is revealing a deeper truth about the current state of the industry that feels foreboding.
9 'Superman & Lois' (2021–2024)
In an intriguing shift on several Superman TV shows, Superman & Lois does not focus on the Man of Steel's upbringing, but on that of his children. In the much-beloved series, Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) are married with two sons. As the two boys grow up, they learn about their father's abilities and must make decisions about their own fates and responsibilities.
Superman & Lois is the best Superman TV show ever done. It is an exciting look into the next chapter of the well-known figure's life and provides some powerful storylines about what marriage and parenthood would be like for someone who is extraordinary. Superman & Lois is a family drama at heart, and that foundation gives it a super-strength that other shows on this list don't possess. If you haven't checked out this absolute winner yet, this is your sign.
8 'Moon Knight' (2022)
A comic book TV series that blends elements of fantasy into the mix is Marvel's Moon Knight. Oscar Isaac stars as Steven Grant, a shy and introverted museum employee who undergoes a radical transformation. When he is able to summon the powers of an Egyptian moon deity named Khonshu (Karim El Hakim and F. Murray Abraham), he is tasked with undertaking some harrowing quests, and his regular, humdrum life begins to feel like a distant memory.
Moon Knight excels at introducing fascinating heroes and villains. The cast is exceptional, and Ethan Hawke is hypnotic as the manipulative and underhanded Arthur Harrow. There are dramatic plot twists in Moon Knight, and the special effects are on par with Marvel TV's level of excellence. Moon Knight is all the more impressive because it achieved success on its own as a standalone project. It did not get the bolster of a mention in the larger MCU, but audiences loved it anyway, proving that a great story is a great story, whether it has been hyped or not.
7 'Watchmen' (2019)
Damon Lindelof's TV adaptation of the Watchmen comics is something greater than the sum of its parts. While it is not a faithful retelling of the comic series, it uses the essence of the story to hold a mirror up to modern society. Vigilantism is, at its core, a profound crusade for justice in the eyes of the perpetrator. Watchmen does not shy away from complex topics and attempts to boil down themes occurring and recurring throughout history into the essence of what it means to have law and order.
Watchmen is a dissection of the fight for virtue. It touches on the dichotomy that what is fair and "right" can be very different depending on who you ask. Since the series was so different from the comics, it was subject to some backlash and harsh review bombing. However, this did not deter the many viewers who have come to appreciate Watchmen for what it is, instead of what it isn't. As the passionate response to the series proves, opinions and beliefs run deep within the human race, and Watchmen hit a nerve.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Superhero Team Should You Join? Avengers · X-Men · Teen Titans · The Boys
Every team is a personality test with a uniform. One saves the world and argues about it the whole way home. One has been fighting for the right to exist since the day it formed. One is still working out who it is while the fighting happens. And one has no powers at all, plus no intention of playing fair. Eight questions decide where you actually belong.
🛡️Avengers(Marvel Studios)
🧬X-Men(Marvel)
🐦Teen Titans(DC)
💊The Boys(Prime Video)
01
What kind of power would you actually want? The power matters less than what you would be willing to do with it.
02
Why join a team at all? Nobody puts on the suit for the reason they say out loud.
03
How do you feel about the people in charge? Every team has a chain of command. Very few of them survive contact.
04
What is your role inside a group? Every roster needs the same handful of people to function.
05
How do you win a fight you should lose? This is the scene the entire film gets built around.
06
What is this work costing you? Nobody does this for free. The bill just arrives differently for everyone.
07
How should the world see your team? Half of this job is public relations, and everybody knows it.
08
The offer arrives. What makes you say yes? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your team.
Recruitment Is Complete Your Team Is…
Four teams, four completely different reasons to put yourself in danger for strangers. This is the roster you actually belong on, what they would want from you, and what it would cost you to stay.
The Avengers
You belong where the stakes are largest and the personalities are loudest. This is a team of people who are all used to being the most important person in the room, which is exactly why it works and exactly why it keeps nearly falling apart.
- The Avengers are not friends who became a team. They are a team that slowly and reluctantly became friends, and you would recognise every stage of that process.
- You can hold your own among big egos without needing to win every exchange, which is the real entry requirement here.
- The arguing is part of the method. This group does its best thinking mid-disagreement, usually at volume, usually in a very expensive building.
- When the sky opens, they are who shows up. You would want to be standing in that line.
The X-Men
You have never had the luxury of being thanked for this. The X-Men protect a world that has never once been comfortable with them existing, and something in you understands exactly why they keep doing it anyway.
- This is the only team on the list whose central conflict is not a villain. It is being wanted gone by the same people they keep saving.
- You know what it is to be the outsider in a room and to decide, anyway, that you will not make yourself smaller so everyone else is comfortable.
- The X-Men are the most genuine found family in comics. People arrive with nowhere else to go and are never once asked to explain themselves.
- You would not be joining for the glory. There has never been any.
The Teen Titans
You do not want colleagues, you want your people. The Titans are the team where the friendship came first and the world-saving turned up afterwards as an inconvenient side effect.
- Every Titan is somebody's sidekick who decided to stop being one. That decision, not the villain of the week, is what the team is actually about.
- You would be joining people who are all working themselves out at the same time as you, which is far less lonely than being the only one.
- The Titans lose regularly. Then they eat together and come back better, which is a more honest model of growing up than any other team here manages.
- The tower would be loud, chaotic, and the first place that ever felt like yours.
The Boys
You are not asking who to trust. You worked out the answer a while ago and it was nobody in a cape. This is where you go once you have decided the people in charge need watching, and that nobody else is going to do it.
- The Boys have no powers, no mandate and no funding. What they have is leverage, patience, and a very high tolerance for consequences.
- You are the person in the room who notices the thing everybody else has quietly agreed not to mention.
- This is not a heroic team and it has never pretended otherwise. It is a group of damaged people doing necessary work in ways nobody would call clean.
- You would not sleep well. You would keep going anyway.
6 'Supacell' (2024–Present)
Rapman's Netflix series Supacell is perfect, according to Rotten Tomatoes. This 100% critically rated TV show follows a small group of individuals who suddenly develop varying superhuman talents, like invisibility, time manipulation, and telekinesis. With superhero fatigue becoming a real issue for audiences, Supacell brings something entirely new to the table and reminds fans why the genre is so rich.
Supacell tackles some of the tried-and-true ethical questions about superpowers, like using them for personal gain and carrying out an immediate view of justice. The cast is abundantly talented, and the storylines are anchored by deep, relational connections that make the series feel candid. By setting the series in South London, it takes the action and drama to a whole new level and urgently depicts how empowering and disruptive a sudden bestowment of extraordinary power could be.
5 'Legion' (2017–2019)
Legion is a psychedelic, trippy, and fantastical foray into the superhero genre. Dan Stevens plays the role of David Haller, a man who has been diagnosed as a person with schizophrenia because of symptoms like hearing voices. David learns that his psychic abilities are only the tip of the iceberg, and he has infinitely more power than he had ever assumed.
Legion is based in the X-Men universe and does credit to the comic book mythos of its origin. David is a powerful mutant who has never been taught how to control his abilities. As he comes to terms with the newfound might he can wield, he must face several crises of conscience and decide whether he is going to be a hero or a villain. Legion taps into the core idea of the X-Men comics about prejudice and segregation for people groups deemed as "other." It is an artistic and phenomenally well done series, and many superhero TV shows that have come after owe it something.
4 'WandaVision' (2021)
A TV series that spawned from the larger MCU but presented something entirely unexpected to audiences was WandaVision. The story follows the character Wanda Maximoff, an extremely powerful being known as the Scarlet Witch. Elizabeth Olsen originated the role in the MCU, and it is perfection to watch her solidify her legacy in the role on the small screen. It launched two sequel series with the latest, Vision Quest, coming to streaming this October.
WandaVision did not begin like any other Marvel TV show. In fact, it took several episodes for it to feel like anything the MCU had released so far. It was a bold and daring creative choice, but one that ultimately paid off, as the series is as close to perfection as any superhero TV show has come yet. Pain, loss, love, suffering — all of these powerful emotions combine with limitless power in the person of Wanda Maximoff. With her ability to manipulate reality, the central question becomes: if you had the power to build your version of a perfect life, would it be real? WandaVision moves through eras of classic TV shows, examining how idealistic family life was defined in each era. It is an undisputed masterpiece and proves that comic book fans have room in their hearts for creative journeys that take unique approaches to the storytelling process.
3 'Invincible' (2021–Present)
A coming-of-age story about a young person adapting to life with superpowers is a classic trope within the milieu, but that is only where Invincible starts. The series soon begins to reveal itself as something much more profound and introspective as layer after layer slowly sheds. Since the very beginning, audiences and critics alike have raved about this absolute triumph, and with Season 5 and a possible Season 6 around the corner, Invincible is still gaining momentum.
Animation has been a staple in the superhero genre and for very good reason. It is a harkening back to the original art form that made the stories memorable: comic books. With its stunning graphics and bold, vibrant colors, Invincible is as visually gripping as it is emotionally impactful. Over such a prestigious run, there have been many opportunities to explore compelling topics, and Invincible does it better than most. It is a fan and critic darling for many reasons and is more than worthy of a spot on this list.
2 'Peacemaker' (2022–2025)
The DCU can do dark really well, and the hit series Peacemaker proves they can also do dark comedy to perfection. A spin-off TV series from the DCU, Peacemaker stars John Cena in his role as the titular superhero, or his mundane alter ego, Christopher Smith. The TV show picks up where James Gunn's The Suicide Squad left off and follows the red-and-blue-clad protagonist as he works as a hired gun for the government.
Peacemaker is a pièce de résistance that combines the best of the past and the present. It is a must-watch for fans of classic '80s and '90s superhero projects and delivers nostalgia in an energetic adrenaline rush with a healthy dose of Americana thrown in. It is snarky, smart, and everything adult fans of the genre would want in a show that feels like an open love-letter to the genre. Peacemaker ticks all the boxes for examining the highs, lows, and ironic idiosyncrasies of trying to be perfect in an imperfect world. It blends humor with poignant moments and delivers on all fronts. Peacemaker has a fantastic ensemble cast and is one of the best superhero TV shows of any era.
1 'Loki' (2021–2023)
Having catapulted to the forefront of fans’ minds in the MCU, Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief got his own TV series in 2021, Loki. The mercurial menace struck again, but this time with an entirely original plotline to follow. In the series, Loki is pressed into service to help a time management company called the Time Variance Authority, or TVA. The TVA exists to protect what they call the “sacred timeline,” which involves tackling any variant branches or people that depart from the main history.
Loki is a kaleidoscopic explosion of talent and genres. It is part superhero, part sci-fi, and part fantasy. The cast is one of the best assembled and includes Owen Wilson, Wunmi Mosaku, Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Ke Huy Quan. The premise of the series is a brilliant way to tell a unique story outside of the main MCU. It gives viewers a captivating and cerebral series to enjoy, without interfering with any of the events that take place in the movie series. Loki tackles multiverses and time travel better than scores of other TV shows that have come before or since. It has wit and charm, and offers something for everyone to enjoy. The mise en scène ranges from retro to futuristic, and the whole series is visually stunning. Loki is emotionally compelling at times and mixes humor in without being kitschy or overdone. Loki is an all around stunner and tells a fantastic story that anyone from any timeline can appreciate.
Loki
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2022
- Network
- Disney+
- Showrunner
- Michael Waldron
- Directors
- Kate Herron
-
Loki Laufeyson
-
Miss Minutes (voice)
- Writers
- Bisha K. Ali, Michael Waldron
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Main Genre
- Action
- Seasons
- 2
- Producers
- Rachel Alter
- Creator(s)
- Michael Waldron
- Story By
- Michael Waldron
- Streaming Service(s)
- Dis
- Executive Producer(s)
- Kevin Feige, Stephen Broussard, Victoria Alonso, Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, Aaron Moorhead, Brad Winderbaum, Justin Benson, Kevin R. Wright
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