15 Best TV Shows Based on Marvel Comics, Ranked!

The supervillains of Marvel Comics, from Doctor Doom to Magneto, may never succeed at taking over the world, but Marvel itself sure has — the world of pop culture anyway.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the biggest movie franchise in the world at the moment; four of the top 10 highest-grossing films are MCU ones. Marvel doesn’t stop at movies or comics either.

In the world of television, Marvel’s output ranges from prestiged-up hour-long dramas to cartoons that capture the vibrancy of their source material. Which ones are the best?

Here are our choices for the 15 best Marvel Comics TV series of all time!

15. Agents of SHIELD

Nominally set in the MCU, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. follows SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) leading a whole new team of agents. What begins as a Marvel-flavored X-Files shifts midway through Season 1 after Captain America: The Winter Soldier blew up S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. evolves from a story about secret agents on the run to an X-Men-style story of superpowers as marginalization to a rogue AI story to an outright space opera.

Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennett) becomes a downright compelling lead, and the show has some great villains.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. also managed to recruit actors you’d think out of its league (including Kyle MacLachlan and the late Bill Paxton) while doing justice to Marvel Comics guest stars like Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna).

The show ultimately ran for seven seasons, with plenty of memorable moments along the journey.

14. Loki

It’s remarkable what Tom Hiddleston has done with Loki. The character in the comics is a scheming, serpentine villain, who had an uncomplicated relationship of envy towards his thunderous brother.

Hiddleston’s live-action take adds charm and pathos, making him a star on par with the MCU’s ensemble of heroes. It was inevitable that Loki would come, with Marvel Studios’ pivot to streaming series on Disney+ offering the perfect opportunity.

The series begins as a riff on Doctor Who, with Loki traveling across the multiverse to different dimensions/parts of history, often meeting different versions of himself.

Unlike many other Marvel stories, Loki gets the opportunity to wrap up its story and give Loki a fitting ending.

13. Iron Man: Armored Adventures

You probably know Tony Stark/Iron Man as the adult “genius billionaire playboy philanthropist” played by Robert Downey Jr. in the MCU.

2009’s Iron Man: Armored Adventures exists because of those movies, but it reinvents the title character. Tony is a teenager with Peppy and Rhodey as his classmates, and Tony’s an underdog (he’s locked out of control of his dad’s company until he’s of age).

The CGI animation of Iron Man: Armored Adventures won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the writing makes the most of its premise across its two-season run. The real strength of the show is how it reinvents the villains of Iron Man’s rogues gallery, giving them both cooler designs and more humanity.

Special prize goes to The Mandarin, who rocks Darth Vader-inspired armor instead of looking like a Fu Manchu caricature. It is the coolest take on Iron Man’s nemesis before Tony Leung played him in Shang-Chi.

12. Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes

The Fantastic Four are the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe, its “first family,” but they haven’t had the best luck outside the comics. A string of mediocre cartoons and downright bad movies follows them.

The best is the one-season, 26-episode-long series Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes.

Rocking an anime-inspired aesthetic, the series gives the Fantastic Four and their supporting cast updated looks but retains their core personalities. It also has the best balance between family-centered comedy and superhero action of any Fantastic Four cartoon. Paul Dobson’s performance as Doctor Doom is bombastic and superb too.

Before the Fantastic Four enter the MCU, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes can offer a good taste of these characters.

11. The Incredible Hulk (1996)

The early 1990s were a boom period for Marvel, and after finding success with animated TV with X-Men, they kept chasing that high with new cartoons. 1996’s The Incredible Hulk was a product of those diminishing returns.

It was short-lived (lasting two seasons and 21 episodes), but it’s pretty dang good.

The series honors the dark spirit of the comics, with the title sequence showing the Hulk as a lonely, besieged figure hunted by both men and fellow monsters. Bruce Banner (Neal McDonough) falls into darkness and emerges by transforming into the Hulk, symbolizing his entire character.

There isn’t a catchy lyrical theme to lighten things up, either.

The series starts as dark as this opening promised. Even as it lightens up, we still get the sensational She-Hulk (Cree Summer) as a full-time cast member in the bargain.

10. The Incredible Hulk (1977)

Superheroes weren’t exactly taken seriously in the 1970s, but that decade gave audiences one of the most influential Marvel television series: The Incredible Hulk, as portrayed in live-action by Bill Bixby (as David Banner) and Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk).

With no budget for the Hulk to fight supervillains, the series focuses on the characters Frankenstein/Mr. Hyde roots as a tortured soul. It uses the structure of The Fugitive, with Bruce Banner on the run and getting into trouble in every town he goes to.

Aside from the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon (specifically its “Does whatever a spider can” theme song), The Incredible Hulk is the first Marvel adaptation to reach mainstream success. Later TV movies even featured guest appearances by Thor and Daredevil, the shape of onscreen superhero crossovers to come decades later.

9. WandaVision

The first and best of the Disney+ MCU series is 2021’s WandaVision, starring Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany).

It’s the closest the Marvel Studios has come to experimenting in a long while, even if it collapses towards convention at the end and sometimes holds its audience’s hands too tightly.

Before the mystery boxes start being opened though? WandaVision is the Disney+ Marvel series that best uses the medium (and history) of TV. The jump-ahead-a-decade every episode motif, while updating the style/theme song to reflect the sitcoms of that decade, instantly gives each episode a whole new identity.

My personal favorite is how 90s-themed WandaVision Season 1 Episode 6, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!,” homages Malcolm in the Middle.

Holding it all together is Olsen’s lead performance, as she shifts from comic to frightening to heartbreaking while always building a cohesive character.

8. X-Men ’97

Am I being hasty ranking X-Men ’97 this high? Debuting March 2024, it hasn’t even finished its first season yet. But to heck with it, this show is the best thing to come out of Marvel Studios in ages.

I was skeptical going in, but the show is so much more than a nostalgia gambit (pun intended).

The creators are fans of the X-Men, sure, but this doesn’t manifest itself in pure reverence, but in using the characters and comic stories to say something. The series is set in the 90s, but its social commentary and cell-shaded animation are strikingly modern.

X-Men ’97 has grown up with the original series’ audience and delivered mature arcs for Cyclops, Rogue, Storm, and especially the now-heroic Magneto. As for reusing the OG theme song? That’s nostalgic, sure, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

7. Spider-Man

Spider-Man is the most prolific Marvel hero when it comes to having consistent cartoons; he’s starred in ten shows since 1967. When it wrapped, the 1994 Spider-Man was the longest-running (five seasons, and the syndication-demanded 65 episodes) and most successful series.

Compared to most children’s cartoons of its day, Spider-Man weaves whole season-long story arcs. After the episodic Season 1, Season 2 is about Spider-Man’s mutated DNA threatening to turn him into a monster, and Season 3 builds up to Spidey’s final clash with the Green Goblin, etc.

Though hampered by some strict censorship (Spider-Man wasn’t even allowed to directly punch his foes) and low animation budget, the series made the most of it. The shows pulled not just from Spider-Man’s own comic history, but had plenty of guest stars from all across the Marvel Universe too.

For many 90s kids, Spider-Man was the first time they learned how vast the world of Marvel Comics could be.

6. X-Men: Evolution

X-Men: Evolution never hit the same popularity as the first cartoon, but it enjoyed a successful four-season/52-episode run. It is inspired more so by the movies, giving the X-Men uniform black-and-yellow suits and depicting the core team as teenagers; their home base is called a school, after all.

X-Men: Evolution also slotted its characters not into just superhero archetypes, but high school ones: Rogue is a goth, Kitty Pryde is the sunny valley girl, Nightcrawler is the loveable nerd, new character Spyke the sports junkie, and Wolverine is the stern teacher with a heart of gold.

It works, though, since making the X-Men kids who attend a real school brings them down to the target audience’s level.

This is X-Men written by and for fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (how fitting, considering Chris Claremont’s X-Men comics inspired Buffy). That early aughts hipness permeates the show, down to its rock theme song.

5. Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones regrettably loses its way during Seasons 2-3, to the point of falling out of the public consciousness. Jessica Jones Season 1, though! Those 13 episodes more than earn this show its high ranking on this list.

Jessica (Krysten Ritter), a PI with super strength, explores how women can be strong and vulnerable at the same time.

Once brainwashed by mind-controlling Kilgrave (David Tennant) into being his lover, she still lives in fear of her abuser’s return, despite everyone else doubting her experiences. So, the show becomes about her refusing to allow him further power over her.

Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg demonstrates great courage in talking about issues of rape culture and patriarchy (before #MeToo was a thing, even). And all in a superhero series, no less.

4. X-Men

X-Men has rough animation, and incidental voice actors don’t measure up to the main cast. But it is still a show made with love — and which, in turn, inspired it. For many Marvel fans, this is the definitive interpretation of the team, and their Jim Lee-inspired looks are the ones people most associate with them.

Now, X-Men couldn’t push the envelope as far as comics it adapted (the Saban censors were more hands-on than Marvel’s editors).

However, it still uses Chris Claremont-penned stories, such as Days of Future Past and The Dark Phoenix Saga, as its source material when the show could’ve easily settled for more rudimentary cartoon stories. The themes of prejudice are present from the beginning, and X-Men Season 4 Episode 8 “Nightcrawler” tackles questions of religious faith head-on.

The electronic theme song, played over a roll-call of the team showing off their powers one-by-one, is a title sequence that Marvel animation has yet to surpass.

3. The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cares about its heroes as both a team and individuals. Tellingly, the series begins with five episodes setting up all of the team’s first eight members before they come together on Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Season 1 Episodes 6-7, “Breakout.”

The series’ storytelling is smart, using “mini-arcs” peppered throughout its two seasons.

For Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Season 1 Episodes 17-19, the Avengers fight Kang The Conqueror. On Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Season 1 Episodes 22-23, they fight Ultron (who’s been built up to go rogue all throughout Season 1).

As a whole, the series also has some of the most refreshing characterizations for underserved Avengers, such as the Hulk (who can actually hold a full conversation), Ant-Man (who’s an idealistic pacifist), and Wasp (the loveable comic relief).

I must also mention the fantastic title sequence, “Fight As One,” showing the Avengers assembling one-by-one before facing off with a HYDRA army in the streets of New York City. There’s no better way to start an episode of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes than that.

2. The Spectacular Spider-Man

One of the greatest tragedies of my childhood is that The Spectacular Spider-Man never made it past two seasons/26 episodes.

Canceled due to complicated copyright disputes between Disney and Sony, the series was cut down in its prime.

Though targeted at grade school boys (and Spider-Man’s episodic clashes with supervillains always got their due), the series’ character drama and romantic subplots are just as compelling. No Spider-Man actor has ever shot the quips better than Josh Keaton either.

For me, this show is the definitive Spider-Man mythos.

It has the characters of the original Steve Ditko/Stan Lee comics, the modern touch of Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, the fluid action of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, and the mature, serialized writing that creator Greg Weisman specializes in.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 2 Episode 13, “Final Curtain” is a bitter note to close on, but you webhead fans out there owe yourselves a watch all the same.

1. Daredevil

The best product of Marvel and Netflix’s all-too-brief partnership was Daredevil, following blind attorney Matt Murdock as he spends his nights as the eponymous vigilante.

Daredevil is a character of contradictions and that split soul is brilliantly portrayed by Charlie Cox. It’s especially nice that the show never shies away from Matt’s Catholicism. Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin’s ferocious presence elevates Daredevil into an even better hero.

The action of the series is bloody and brutal, with extended one-take action scenes inspired by the hallway fight in Oldboy being a once-a-season tradition.

In 2015, this was the perfect counterprogramming to the sanitized MCU, and it remains thrilling today. Daredevil Season 2 stumbles a bit with its spin-off set-up (despite Jon Bernthal’s sizzling introduction as the Punisher), but Daredevil Season 3 brings it home with a stunner.

I only hope that the forthcoming revival series, Daredevil: Born Again, can live up to this legacy.

—

Did your favorite Marvel TV series make the list? Share your picks with us in the comments below!

Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!