Honestly, we’ve all had enough of the "truth, justice, and the American way" bit. It’s tired. For decades, the formula for tv shows about superpowers was basically a procedural with spandex—a monster of the week, a secret identity, and a protagonist who never made a mistake they couldn't fix in forty-two minutes. But things shifted. Somewhere between the gritty cynicism of the late 2010s and the absolute absurdity of current streaming budgets, the genre grew up. Or maybe it just regressed into something much more honest and chaotic.
If you look at what's winning right now, it isn't the shiny paragons of virtue. It’s the messes. It’s the people who have god-like abilities but still can’t pay their rent or manage a healthy relationship. We are obsessed with the "what if" of it all, but not the "what if I could fly" part—more like "what if I could fly and I was also a complete narcissist?"
The "Deconstruction" Era and the Death of the Boy Scout
We have to talk about The Boys. It changed the DNA of how networks approach superpowered stories. Eric Kripke took Garth Ennis’s ultra-violent comic and turned it into a mirror for celebrity culture and corporate greed. It’s gross. It’s loud. It’s often deeply uncomfortable. But it works because it treats superpowers like any other resource: something to be exploited by a board of directors. Antony Starr’s Homelander isn't just a villain; he’s a terrifying look at what happens when an insecure man is given the power of a god and the ego of a social media influencer.
Then you have The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. It’s weirdly domestic. Instead of saving the world from a giant laser in the sky, the characters are mostly trying to survive their own childhood trauma. It’s a family drama disguised as a sci-fi epic. You’ve got a guy with a gorilla body, a woman who can rumor reality into existence, and a 58-year-old man trapped in a teenager’s body. They’re dysfunctional. They fail. A lot. This shift toward "broken" heroes is exactly why tv shows about superpowers are currently dominating the cultural conversation. We don't want to see someone perfect; we want to see someone who's as much of a disaster as we feel on a Tuesday morning.
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Why the "Small" Stories are Winning
Budget isn't everything anymore. You don't need a $200 million Marvel movie to tell a compelling story about extraordinary abilities. Look at Misfits. This British gem from the late 2000s followed a group of young offenders doing community service who get struck by a lightning storm. Their powers were literal manifestations of their insecurities. The shy kid became invisible. The girl who was obsessed with what people thought of her could hear thoughts. It was gritty, foul-mouthed, and incredibly human.
Small-scale storytelling allows for nuance that the big blockbusters usually miss. In Moving, the South Korean hit that took Disney+ by storm in 2023, the focus isn't just on the action. It’s about parents trying to hide their children’s abilities to keep them safe from a world that wants to weaponize them. It’s a spy thriller, a high school romance, and a family saga all rolled into one. It proves that the most interesting thing about a superpower isn't the power itself, but the burden it places on the person holding it.
The Problem with the "Power Creep"
A major issue that often kills these shows is power creep. Once a character can fly at the speed of light or warp reality, the stakes kind of vanish. Writers struggle. If the protagonist is invincible, why do I care? This is why shows like Invincible (the animated series) work so well. Mark Grayson gets his teeth kicked in. Constantly. He’s powerful, sure, but he’s frequently outmatched, and the physical and emotional toll of his fights actually sticks. There are consequences. People die. Cities don't just magically rebuild themselves by the next episode.
Animation is the New Frontier
If you’re ignoring animation, you’re missing the best tv shows about superpowers currently being made. Arcane (based on League of Legends) is a masterclass in world-building. It uses "Hextech" as a stand-in for power and technology, showing how it creates a massive divide between the haves and the have-nots. The visual style is breathtaking, but the writing is what keeps you there. It’s a tragedy.
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Then there's X-Men '97. People thought it would just be a nostalgia trip. They were wrong. It tackled heavy themes of genocide, prejudice, and political radicalization with more grace than most live-action dramas. It reminded us that the X-Men have always been a metaphor for the marginalized. When the show leans into that—rather than just "cool laser eyes"—it resonates on a much deeper level.
The Misconception of "Superhero Fatigue"
People keep talking about "superhero fatigue" like it’s a terminal illness for the industry. It’s not. What people are actually tired of is formulaic storytelling. They're tired of the "Sky Beam" finale. They're tired of jokes that undercut every emotional moment. They aren't tired of superpowers; they’re tired of boring people having them.
Shows like Extraordinary on Hulu/Disney+ prove this. In a world where everyone gets a superpower at age 18, the protagonist, Jen, is 25 and still waiting for hers. It’s a comedy about being a late bloomer. It’s hilarious because it treats superpowers as something mundane—like having a driver’s license or a weird talent for playing the recorder. That’s the direction the genre is heading: making the extraordinary feel ordinary so we can focus on the characters.
Realism vs. Spectacle: The Balancing Act
The most successful shows right now are the ones that pick a lane and stay in it. Watchmen (the HBO limited series) chose the "prestige drama" lane. It used the framework of a masked-vigilante world to explore the very real history of the Tulsa Race Massacre. It was dense, layered, and rewarded viewers for paying attention. It didn't care about being a "fun" superhero show. It wanted to be a significant show.
On the flip side, you have something like Peacemaker. It’s absurd. There’s a pet eagle named Eagly. There’s a lot of dancing. But underneath the R-rated humor, it’s a genuinely touching story about a man trying to escape the shadow of his hateful father. James Gunn knows that you can have the spectacle as long as the heart is in the right place.
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Specific Elements That Make a Show Last:
- A Cost to the Power: If using a power doesn't hurt or cost something, it's boring. Legion did this beautifully by blurring the lines between god-like psychic abilities and severe mental illness.
- The "Lived-In" World: I want to see how the world adapts. How does insurance work in a world with flying people? This is what The Boys does so well with Vought International.
- Moral Ambiguity: No one is purely good. Even the "heroes" should make selfish choices.
- Diverse Perspectives: We are finally seeing stories from creators who don't fit the traditional mold, leading to shows like Ms. Marvel, which brought a vibrant, specific cultural lens to the genre.
What to Watch Next
If you're looking to dive into the best of what tv shows about superpowers have to offer right now, you need a strategy. Don't just follow the big brands.
- For the Gritty Realist: Watch The Boys (Amazon) or Daredevil (Disney+). The latter, specifically the Netflix-produced seasons, remains the gold standard for street-level stakes and incredible choreography.
- For the Weirdo: Go for Doom Patrol (Max). It is, without a doubt, the strangest show on television. It features a sentient street named Danny and a villain who is a literal shadow. It’s also deeply moving.
- For the Emotional Masochist: Station Eleven isn't a superpower show in the traditional sense, but it deals with the "extraordinary" in a post-apocalyptic setting that feels spiritual. Or, stick to Arcane for a more direct hit of "everything is beautiful and everything hurts."
- For the Pure Fun: One Piece (the live-action Netflix version) actually pulled off the "superpower" element surprisingly well. It’s goofy, earnest, and completely leans into its own world-building.
The genre is evolving. It’s moving away from the "chosen one" narrative and toward something more ensemble-based and complicated. We are seeing more "anti-superpower" shows where the abilities are a curse rather than a gift. That’s where the best writing is happening.
Stop looking for the next "Superman." Look for the next character who is remarkably powerful and remarkably human. Those are the stories that actually stick.
Actionable Next Steps
- Audit your watchlist: If you’ve only seen the mainstream Marvel or DC offerings, pick one international show like Moving (South Korea) or Misfits (UK) to see how other cultures handle the "power" trope.
- Track the creators: Follow showrunners like Eric Kripke or specialized studios like Fortiche (the team behind Arcane). In the current era of TV, the creator's voice matters more than the IP they are working on.
- Look for "Limiters": When starting a new show, identify the "limiter"—what stops the hero from winning instantly? If the answer is "nothing," the show will likely lose its narrative tension by the end of the first season.