◆ Entertainment
10 Superhero Shows That Are True Masterpieces
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By
Dyah Ayu Larasati
Published Apr 20, 2026, 7:14 PM EDT
Dyah (pronounced Dee-yah) is a Senior Author at Collider, responsible for both writing and transcription duties. She joined the website in 2022 as a Resource Writer before stepping into her current role in April 2023. As a Senior Author, she writes Features and Lists covering TV, music, and movies, making her a true Jill of all trades. In addition to her writing, Dyah also serves as an interview transcriber, primarily for events such as **San Diego Comic-Con, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival.
Dyah graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in October 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, concentrating on Creative Writing. She is currently completing her Master's degree in English Literature Studies**, with a thesis on intersectionality in postcolonial-feminist studies in Asian literary works, and is expected to graduate in 2026.**
Born and raised between Indonesia and Singapore**, Dyah is no stranger to different cultures. She now resides in the small town of Kendal with her husband and four cats, where she spends her free time cooking or cycling.
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There's no such thing as too many superhero stories, even if "superhero fatigue" has become a common complaint these days. Although it's an oversaturated genre, it's hard to resist a series that genuinely explores what it means to be heroic. Over the years, superhero storytelling has come a long way from simple tales of good versus evil.
Reflecting the muddy waters of human society, these shows instead explore moral gray areas and the costs that come with power. Rather than presenting themselves as ambassadors of goodwill, many shows challenge the idea of heroism itself. They question what it takes to save others, and also yourself. With that in mind, here are the superhero shows that are true masterpieces.
'Spider-Man: The Animated Series' (1994–1998)
Spider-Man in 'Spider-Man: The Animated Series'Image via Fox Kids Network
Before Tobey Maguire's cinematic adaptation, there was Spider-Man: The Animated Series_. Much like the movies, the show follows college student Peter Parker (Christopher Daniel Barnes), who's trying to juggle between school and his duties as Spider-Man. When he's not trying to bust his back over homework, he's out chasing familiar villains, like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.
The charm of '90s animation is that it does not dumb down audiences. Spider-Man: The Animated Series may be a cartoon, but it also touches on heavy themes like identity loss, betrayal, and the struggles of being working-class. It's here where both Peter and the audience learn the true meaning of "with great power comes great responsibility."
'Wonder Man' (2026)
_ Yahya Abdu-Mateen II as Simon Williams in 'Wonder Man', sporting one of the character's signature comic looks.Image via Disney+
Every actor, or hero, has to start somewhere. Wonder Man_ follows aspiring actor and secretly powerful Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who's currently down on his luck. However, when an audition for a "Wonder Man" movie lands on his door, he wastes no time seizing the opportunity. Luckily for him, veteran actor and ex-quasi-villain Trevor Slatter (Ben Kingsley) has time to mentor him.
Before they were supers, they were just people. Simon's more focused on becoming an actor than a superhero, which is what makes Wonder Man so refreshing. It's cool seeing his powers go all out, but it's more interesting watching someone who doesn't define himself by them and actually has other goals he's chasing.
'Supacell' (2024–Present)
_ Calvin Demba's Rodney gets ready for the race of his life in Supacell.Image via Netflix
Supacell_ follows five Black South Londoners — a delivery driver, gang leader, nurse, struggling father, and drug dealer — who develop superpowers linked to a shared history of sickle cell disease. As they find each other, the story zooms into their personal lives, all while a secret organization is lurking in the shadows.
With no comic book safety net like the MCU or DC, Supacell stands alone as a lone wolf in an oversaturated superhero genre. However, the show excels at depicting ordinary people as its main characters. It can be hard to connect with superheroes because of how larger-than-life they are, but Supacell's_ _diverse and imperfect ensemble gives it a more human touch.
'The Boys' (2019–Present)
These superheroes are super-jerks. The Boys have come a long way from being a one-man war between Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and Vought International. In this world, the superheroes are nothing more than rotten villains with a really good PR team. Vought asset and ringleader of the Seven, Homelander (Antony Starr), has big plans to not just destroy Butcher, but take over the country.
In _The Boys, _the sky isn't the limit. There's really no line these Supes won't cross to get what they want, whether it's on Butcher's side or Homelander's. Morality is completely thrown out of the window. From obscenely twisted killings to backstabbing betrayals, all the characters are just one episode away from getting obliterated.
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COLLIDER. Collider · Quiz
Collider Exclusive · Star Wars Quiz Which Force User_**Are You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between
The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too.
🔵Jedi Master 🟡Padawan 🔴Sith Lord ⚫Inquisitor ⚪Grey Jedi
IGNITE YOUR SABER →
QUESTION 1 / 10THE FORCE
01 What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else.
AA living energy I must be worthy of — it is not mine to control. BSomething vast and mysterious I'm only beginning to understand. CNeither light nor dark — just a current I choose to ride. DPower. Pure and simple. The strong take it; the weak don't.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 2 / 10EMOTION
02 When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently.
AAcknowledge them, then release them. Attachment leads to suffering. BFeel them fully, then decide what to do — they're not the enemy. CBury them. Emotion is a liability I can't afford to indulge. DUse them. Passion is the engine of the dark side for good reason.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 3 / 10AUTHORITY
03 The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment.
AFollow it. The Council's wisdom surpasses my own perspective. BVoice my objection clearly, then defer to the decision. CComply outwardly while doing what I think is right. DIgnore it. The strong don't answer to committees.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 4 / 10TEMPTATION
04 You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side's pull is never more than a choice away.
ARefuse without hesitation. There is no cost worth that price. BWeigh it carefully — sometimes darkness holds real answers. CFeel the pull but walk away — for now. DAccept it. Power justifies the method used to obtain it.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 5 / 10TRAINING
05 Your approach to training and learning is: A student's habits become a master's character.
ADedicated but humble. There is always more to learn from my masters. BRigorous and patient. Mastery is earned through years of discipline. CEclectic — I draw from every tradition, not just one. DRelentless and brutal. Pain accelerates growth. Rest is weakness.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 6 / 10COMBAT
06 In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user's philosophy.
ADefense and composure — I wait for my opponent to overcommit. BFast and instinctive — I trust the Force to guide my movements. CUnpredictable — I blend styles to keep enemies off-balance. DOverwhelming aggression — I end fights before they begin.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 7 / 10COMPASSION
07 A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment.
AStrike them down — compassion toward enemies is naïve and costly. BNeutralize them permanently. I can't afford loose ends. CSpare them if I can — but stay clear-eyed about the risks. DOffer them a chance to surrender. Every being deserves that.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 8 / 10ATTACHMENT
08 The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy.
AThe Code is right. Attachment clouds judgment and invites suffering. BLove is not a weakness — the Jedi Code got this one wrong. CI have no attachment — only loyalty to my master's mission. DI feel it deeply but struggle to reconcile it with my training.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 9 / 10PURPOSE
09 Why do you use the Force at all? What's the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon.
ATo learn. I'm still figuring out what I'm capable of. BTo protect and serve. The Force is a responsibility, not a gift. CTo survive — and maybe carve out something worth having. DTo dominate. Strength demands to be expressed, not contained.
NEXT QUESTION →
QUESTION 10 / 10THE CHOICE
10 At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like?
AThe light. I choose peace, even when darkness would be easier. BNeither fully — I carve my own path through the middle. CWhoever I serve — my loyalty defines me more than my morality. DThe dark. Power is the only thing that's ever actually been real.
REVEAL MY ALIGNMENT →
Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the Force The scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you.
🔵 Jedi Master
🟡 Padawan
🔴 Sith Lord
⚫ Inquisitor
⚪ Grey Jedi
JEDI MASTER
Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage.
PADAWAN
You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn't whether you have what it takes — it's whether you'll be patient enough to find out.
SITH LORD
You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side's cruelest trick is that it agrees with you.
INQUISITOR
You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you.
GREY JEDI
You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don't fully trust you. The Sith think you're wasting your potential. They're both partially right. But so are you.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'Peacemaker' (2022–Present)
_ John Cena in PeacemakerImage via HBO Max
After the events of The Suicide Squad_**, Chris Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker (John Cena), is finally relieved of his superhuman duties. But as he tries to reconnect with his father and find new joys in life, he gets pulled into a covert mission called Project Butterfly. It's a serious operation, but Peacemaker's far from that.
_Peacemaker _becomes something of Chris's redemption arc. He first appears as a supervillain, but the series forces him to question whether killing people can ever be justified. There's nothing glamorous about abilities like his, and even with them, he's still just a broken guy like everyone else. That's what makes him, and his peers, more relatable, with a bit of heart underneath it all.
'X-Men '97' (2024–Present)
_ Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Rogue share a hug in Genosha in X-Men '97.Image via Disney+
X-Men_ returns to the '90s with_ X-Men ’97_. Taking place in the aftermath of a dying Professor X (Ross Marquand), the heroes in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters are left clueless without a formidable leader. Stuck in a prolonged identity crisis, the team continues to stick with each other, with Cyclops (Ray Chase) serving as de facto leader.
Such is the case with revivals — there's always that daunting task of trying to one-up the original. However,_ X-Men '97_** has no intention of becoming its own, separate thing**. Instead, it enhances the original, adding more depth while exploring each character and conflict with nuance. As the powers feel bigger, so do the themes of discrimination, love, and loss.
'The Punisher' (2017–2019)
_ Jon Bernthal in The Punisher standing with his skull t-shirt on inside a building.Image via Netflix
Grief brings out the worst in people. The Punisher_ follows Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), a widow confronting the loss of his family, who were killed by a ruthless vigilante. Not wanting to let their deaths slip by with retribution, Frank takes it upon himself to wage a one-man war with New York's seedy underworld.
The Punisher doesn't make Frank likable, and it's a bold move. There's nothing more traumatizing than losing your only family to criminals, but the justice he promises himself eventually morphs into ugly vengeance. The pendulum swings between these two extremes, until Frank begins to realize what his real intentions are behind his actions.
'Daredevil' (2015–2018)
_ Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in 'Daredevil'Image via Netflix
It takes a little bad to become a good superhero. Daredevil_ follows Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer by day, and a vigilante by night. With his heightened sense, he takes on New York's criminal underworld, eventually coming across big leagues like the Punisher and Elektra (Élodie Yung). But his biggest challenge of all is none other than corrupt leader, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio).
Matt's double life is tested in Daredevil. In the courtroom, Matt sticks to the law, but he knows the system can be bent by people with money and power. That's what pushes him to take matters into his own hands at night — but even then, he's constantly wrestling with how far he's willing to go to do what he thinks is right.
'Batman: The Animated Series' (1992–1995)
_ Batman fighting the Joker in Batman the Animated Series.Image via Warner Bros. Animation
Just as Spider-Man had his shining moment in the '90s, so did Batman. Batman: The Animated Series _follows the vigilante's war on crime in Gotham City. Beneath the mask, he's a man haunted by his parents' murder during childhood. Driven to rid the city of corruption, he comes face to face with villains like the Joker (Mark Hamill) and Two-Face (Richard Moll).
The Batman people often see in movies today is the kind who's great with his fists and even better behind the wheel. But Batman: The Animated Series focuses on his original skill set: detective work. Much of the story shows him solving cases with his intellect, but it also pairs it with his trademark brutal action scenes.
'The Umbrella Academy' (2019–2024)
_ Emmy Raver-Lampman, Tom Hopper, Elliot Page and the cast holding shot glasses in The Umbrella Academy.Image via Netflix
Family can be complicated, and then there's The Umbrella Academy_-level complicated. Based on the comics by **Gerard Way **of My Chemical Romance, the series follows the Hargreeves family — separated at birth, reunited following their "father's" death. However, their short trip to the Hargreeves mansion is extended when they learn that the end of the world is near.
It's just trauma after trauma in The Umbrella Academy. As children, the Hargreeves siblings were raised to become child mercenaries, growing up under a toxic, superhero-obsessed, and abusive father. At its core, it's a story about trying to get along with your dysfunctional family while also attempting to save the world from impending doom.
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Followed
The Umbrella Academy
TV-MA
Adventure
Comedy
Action
Release Date**
2019 - 2024-00-00
Showrunner
Steve Blackman
Directors
Jeremy Webb
Writers
Steve Blackman
Cast
See All_
Colm Feore
Cazzie David
A dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings reunites to solve the mystery of their father's death and prevent an impending apocalypse. As they confront their past and battle external threats, their fractured relationships and unique powers drive a mix of action, drama, and dark humor.
Franchise(s)
The Umbrella Academy
Main Genre
Adventure
Seasons
4
Story By
Steve Blackman
Streaming Service(s)
Netflix
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