If you’re holding out for a hero, you’re in luck — there’s a superhero story for you. The superhero television and movie spectrum is as vast as any comic book universe: Some series and films follow righteous, street-level heroes, like Spider-Man, who work to keep their neighborhoods safe. Others feature morally ambiguous antiheroes, like The Boys, who juggle the fate of the world in their hands despite an aversion to the spotlight.
Whether they’re saving the universe or trying to avenge it, the best thing about these superheroes’ stories is that they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are big-budget spectacles while others are more intimate tales of people with powers discovering their purpose. Whether you’re looking to watch some dynamic fight scenes or get invested in multi-season arcs, these 14 movies and series will inspire you to pull on your best spandex and take flight.
A retired superhero returns to the fray in this drama based on the eponymous DC Comics character. Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is the principal of Garfield High School who (metaphorically) hung up his cape nine years ago after it became clear his crime-fighting extracurriculars were harming his family. But when his daughters, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain), are kidnapped by infamous crime gang The 100, Jefferson is forced to step up and use his electric powers to save them. This four-season series, created by Salim Akil (Sparkle), also stars Christine Adams (Malice), James Remar (The Noel Diary), and Marvin “Krondon” Jones III (Halo).
Cousins Stephen and Robbie Amell are no strangers to the superhero genre: Stephen starred in the CW superhero series Arrow, while Robbie appeared on The Flash. That makes them perfect for Code 8, which takes place in a world where all people with superpowers are required to register their abilities with the government, marginalizing them in the process. Robbie plays Connor Reed, a working-class young man with electrokinetic powers trying to raise money to help his unwell mother, while Stephen plays Garrett, a telekinetic who recruits Connor to join his group of criminals. The story doesn’t end with Code 8: After you finish, check out the sequel, Code 8: Part II.
This time-travel adventure series follows the titular team as they traverse time and space to stop the evil Vandal Savage’s (Casper Crump) rise to power. Set in the CW’s Arrowverse, the series kicks off when Rip Hunter, aka the Time Master (Arthur Darvill), recruits a ragtag crew of heroes and villains — including Ray Palmer, aka the Atom (Brandon Routh); Sara Lance, aka White Canary (Caity Lotz); Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson, aka Firestorm (Victor Garber and Franz Drameh); and Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller). But the only thing more difficult for this group than fighting off a time-traveling gorilla or dueling with Julius Caesar on the beach is getting along with each other.
Grant Gustin stars as Barry Allen, whose childhood was altered by the sudden death of his mother and the subsequent imprisonment of his innocent father for her murder. Years later, Barry, who now works as a forensic crime-scene investigator, is struck by lightning in a freak storm that leaves him with the power of superhuman speed. After discovering how many others use their own powers for evil, he decides to begin masquerading as the costumed vigilante the Flash, all while trying to get to the bottom of what really happened to his mother. The CW series ran for nine seasons, making it the ideal watch for when you want to get really invested in a superhero story.
Before Guillermo del Toro revived Frankenstein, the writer-director set his sights on a different antihero: Hellboy, portrayed by his frequent collaborator Ron Perlman (Cronos). It’s the story of a charismatic, red-skinned demon who’s summoned to Earth by the Nazis during World War II and rescued by Allied forces when he was a baby. Six decades later, the eponymous character works with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense to defeat preternatural threats. When the villainous sorcerer Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) is resurrected, Hellboy might be forced to face the apocalyptic destiny he’s spent his whole life avoiding. Selma Blair (Another Life), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Doug Jones (The Shape of Water), and John Hurt (Brighton Rock) also star.
Based on Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s comics of the same name, Jupiter’s Legacy stars Josh Duhamel (Ransom Canyon) as Sheldon Sampson, aka the Utopian, the leader of the world’s first superheroes. The Utopian and his teammates — including Brainwave (Ben Daniels), Lady Liberty (Leslie Bibb), the Flare (Mike Wade), and Skyfox (Matt Lanter) — make up the idealistic Union of Justice. After decades defending the world from ever-growing threats, they’re ready to pass the torch to the next generation. The problem? Their superpowered children are spoiled, volatile, and struggling to live up to their parents’ legacies. When the Utopian’s son, Paragon (Andrew Horton), breaks one of the Union’s founding rules, his actions could have disastrous consequences nearly a century after superheroes first broke onto the scene.
When Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) was a boy, he and his brother, Dmitri, were trained by their father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe), to take over his vast criminal empire. But when Sergei fails his father’s final test after refusing to kill a lion, he’s left for dead on the African savanna. He’s saved by Calypso Ezili (Ariana DeBose), who gives him a mystical serum that heals his injuries and gives him animal-like abilities. Years later, Sergei is forced to reunite with his estranged father when Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) is kidnapped and held for ransom. Can Sergei and Calypso work together to save Dmitri from the villainous Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), or will Sergei’s magical animal powers prove no match for the mercenaries? J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier) directed this superhero flick based on the Marvel Comics character.
In this sci-fi thriller, Jamie Foxx (Day Shift), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Trial of the Chicago 7), and Dominique Fishback (Swarm) make for an unlikely trio working together to stop the distribution of a superpower-granting street drug. Set in a futuristic version of New Orleans, the pill — appropriately called “Power” — gives the user five minutes of various superpowers. The catch? You never know what you’ll get when you ingest it, meaning that a user could gain strength or invisibility, or they could just explode. When a local cartel starts using the drug to commit crimes, a cop (Gordon-Levitt) tries to put an end to it by teaming up with a teenager (Fishback) and a traumatized former soldier out for revenge of his own (Foxx).
Single mom Nicole Warren (Alisha Wainwright) is already struggling to raise her young son, Dion (Ja’Siah Young), after her husband Mark’s (Michael B. Jordan) death when she discovers that Dion has developed superpowers. Confused and alone, she turns to Mark’s best friend, Pat (Jason Ritter), to help her make sense of her shifting reality. She soon learns that there are people who want to exploit her son’s burgeoning abilities. This two-season drama, based on the 2015 comic book and short film by Dennis Liu, also stars Jazmyn Simon (Ballers) and Ali Ahn (The Diplomat).
Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is just trying to adjust to his fancy school, live up to his loving parents’ expectations, and impress the new girl, Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider. That’s when he meets Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker (Chris Pine), who’s on a mission to stop the villainous Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from tearing a hole in reality. Spidey fails, leaving Miles to save their world and juggle the alternate-universe Spider-People who keep popping up: the jaded, over-the-hill Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson); the hypercapable Spider-Gwen (Steinfeld); the angst-ridden, black-and-white Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage); the tech-savvy Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn); and the talking cartoon pig in spandex, Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). If they work together, these unlikely allies might be able to save the multiverse, return home, and discover what it means to be heroes. The movie, produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Project Hail Mary), won Best Animated Feature at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars.
Plenty of superhero stories lean into the darkness, but if you’re in the mood for something more lighthearted, make Supergirl your next watch. The CW series stars Melissa Benoist (The Waterfront) as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, the titular caped hero. Originally from planet Krypton, Kara was sent to Earth as a child and found a home with the Danvers family in National City. Over six seasons, Supergirl follows Kara through adulthood as she fights to protect the city while also working to keep her secret identity, well, secret. And if you love Superman lore, Supergirl often subverts the famous hero’s well-trodden mythology. The series also stars Mehcad Brooks (Tyler Perry’s A Fall from Grace), Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy), Jeremy Jordan (American Son), Katie McGrath (Frontier), and Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) as Clark Kent, aka Superman.
Steve Blackman’s series, which is based on the comic book by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, is an inventive superhero story, but it’s also a show about complicated family dynamics. The Umbrella Academy focuses on the Hargreeves, an estranged family of superpowered adopted siblings who are brought back together by the death of their father. (And when we say estranged, we mean estranged: One sibling lives on the moon after being injected with a serum that made him half-ape.) The reunion inspires the Hargreeves to look into the shady circumstances surrounding how their father died, and how it connects back to their own mysterious origins. The large ensemble cast includes Elliot Page (Close to You), Tom Hopper (Love in the Villa), David Castañeda (The Guilty), and Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Beekeeper).
In the final installment of the Venom trilogy, Tom Hardy (Havoc) returns as Eddie Brock and his alien companion, the Venom symbiote. The Venom films have always enjoyed embracing elements of the buddy comedy genre, and The Last Dance takes it one step further by sending Eddie and Venom on a road trip after they’re forced to go on the run. The duo is being hunted by Knull (Andy Serkis), the malevolent creator of the symbiotes, and, in order to defeat him and his army of monsters, have to team up with a group of scientists studying symbiotes at the soon-to-be-closed Area 51. Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Old Guard), Juno Temple (Dirty John), and Rhys Ifans (NYAD) co-star.
Superheroics run in the family in this indirect sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids), the flick follows Missy Moreno (YaYa Gosselin), who doesn’t have superpowers. She’s the daughter of the sword-wielding hero Marcus Moreno (Pedro Pascal). When the world’s greatest superheroes, the Heroics, are defeated and captured by an alien enemy, it’s up to their kids to suit up and save the day by harnessing their greatest weapon: teamwork. Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Dostana), Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore 2), and Christian Slater (Chupa) also star.
