10 Best Marvel Shows of All Time, Ranked

Being one of the premiere distributors of comics and superhero stories for decades, Marvel has been home to a wide variety of exceptional adaptations and evolutions of their characters. While many are quick to tout the many successes that Marvel has found in the realms of cinema, they have also made great strides over the years when it comes to television series. These range from quirky live-action shows and cartoons of the 60s and 70s to the more recent universe-building installments of the larger MCU.

With so many great series across Marvel’s history, it’s difficult to exactly pin down the greatest shows that they’ve ever released, so many fan-favorite shows sadly didn’t make the cut. What sets the greatest Marvel shows a step above the rest is their inherent charm, rewatchability, and ability to transform and elevate a character and their story in a way that perfectly fits the episodic format. Each of these series acts as a pillarstone of Marvel’s television outings in their own right and has helped shape the studio and give it the legacy that it has today.

10

‘What If…? (2021 – 2024)

Created by A. C. Bradley

One of the few animated series in the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe, What If…? plays into the infinite possibilities of storytelling that come from Marvel’s extended multiverse and cast of characters. The anthology series has each episode taking a look inside of a different alternate universe, usually defined by a simple difference that has created massive implications for everyone involved. From fun character swaps of beloved characters to apocalyptic wastelands where the villains were victorious, each multiverse is looked over by the enigmatic Watcher.

What If…? proves itself to not just be a non-stop barrage of references and easter eggs to the MCU and larger Marvel history, but a love letter to the universe and characters that have been built up for all these years. While the series is at its best when it’s sticking to its anthology premise and telling exceptional standalone stories, the series soon evolves into having massive multiversal stakes and a larger overarching story.

9

‘The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ (2010 – 2012)

Created by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Fine, and Christopher Yost

While The Avengers as a team has been a central part of many exciting blockbuster films, the superhero team has rarely been explored in the world of an animated series, with one of the few exceptions being The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The series follows the ventures of the classic superhero team, including the likes of Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, Ant-Man, and more, facing off against various notorious villains following a mass breakout at a S.H.I.E.L.D prison.

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes sets out to take inspiration from other classic superhero team shows to finally give The Avengers the treatment that they deserve in the realm of animation. Each member of the main team is treated with respect and care, as they effectively bounce off of each other and show a team dynamic that is more in line with the comics as opposed to the MCU. The villain stories are also giving the utmost importance and depth, creating what is overall some of the best interpretations of some of these beloved characters’ stories.

8

‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ (2013 – 2020)

Created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen

The original television companion series to the MCU, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. acted to show the in-between and behind-the-scenes at S.H.I.E.L.D and what they were up to leading up to and during the events of famous MCU movies. The series sees Clark Gregg reprising his role as Agent Phil Coulson, a figurehead of the agency in their ongoing struggles against various aliens, deceptive villainous agencies like Hydra, and even time travel.

While modern-day audiences are more used to the directly connected series of the MCU, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D‘s smaller scope and universe building gave it a distinct edge and charm that is sometimes lacking from the modern Marvel series. The series also found itself directly tying into the events of the larger MCU, whether it be the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D in Captain America: The Winter Soldier or a widespread monster attack in Thor: The Dark World.

7

‘Ms. Marvel’ (2022)

Created by Bisha K. Ali

One of the first modern MCU series that focused on a fully original character that wasn’t in a previously existing movie or franchise, Ms. Marvel‘s undeniable charm and electrifying energy make it a fan-favorite among the entire post-Endgame MCU. The series follows Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), a 16-year-old fangirl of the Avengers and superheroes in general who often struggles to fit in with her peers. However, her life is suddenly changed when she receives superpowers of her own, deciding to follow in the footsteps of her idols and become the hero her town deserves.

There is a clear love and passion that is ever present throughout the entirety of Ms. Marvel that makes it a joy to watch unfold, whether it comes from Vellani’s contagious high-energy spirit or the creative camerawork and visual style. Not having to adhere to any prior stories or character work, Ms. Marvel is able to weave its own effective coming-of-age story to create something that truly stands on its own.

6

‘The Spectacular Spider-Man’ (2008-2009)

Created by Victor Cook and Greg Weisman

More than any other hero or character, Spider-Man has seen the absolute highest number of different adaptations and interpretations in the realm of animated series, with easily the best being The Spectacular Spider-Man. The series follows a frustrated teenage Peter Parker who is finding difficulties balancing his hectic school life with the responsibilities and stress that come from being the web-slinging superhero defender of New York City.

While only being around for a brief two seasons, The Spectacular Spider-Man continues to be in the conversation as one of the most acclaimed and beloved animated comic-book adaptations of all time. The series combines the best aspects of the comics, the popular live-action Sam Raimi trilogy, and various other animated Spider-Man stories to create the quintessential version of the character’s teenage story. Even 15 years after the series ended, fans still hold out hope that the series could be revived, as it ended with a notoriously painful cliffhanger.

5

‘Loki’ (2021 – 2023)

Created by Michael Waldron

Loki has always been one of the most beloved and multi-faceted villains in the MCU’s lineup, for a long time even being considered to be the only truly great villain in the entire franchise. While this isn’t the case anymore, the titular series, Loki, shows exactly why Tom Hiddleston‘s take on the character became such an icon in the first place, playing into his charm and wit for an ever-expanding multiverse story. The series sees Loki finding himself working with the TVA, an organization tasked with maintaining order to the multiverse and stopping anomalies that threaten the main timeline.

While the multiversal concepts and story in the larger MCU have gotten largely muddled and hard to follow, this isn’t the case within the confines of Loki, with the story fitting perfectly and style and flowing seamlessly through its two seasons. The show’s combination of classic characters and concepts with a nihilistic turned self-empowering take on the multiverse has made it one of the best MCU shows of the 2020s.

4

‘Jessica Jones’ (2015 – 2019)

Created by Melissa Rosenberg

One of the greatest benefits that helped the various collaborations between Marvel and Netflix for their MCU series was their ability to tackle mature and complex themes in the television format. This is easily one of the biggest factors that make the neo-noir psychological thriller story of Jessica Jones something that is unlike anything else that Marvel has to offer and one of their most emotionally compelling series as a result. The series works exceptionally well, not just as a great Marvel adaptation, but as a genuinely compelling piece of prestige television.

The series follows the painful struggles of Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), a former superhero who found herself entering early retirement after an accident caused by the villain Kilgrave (David Tennant) caused her to kill someone. Now working as a private detective, her life is suddenly thrust back into the dangerous world of superheroes when Kilgrave mysteriously returns, forcing her to take him down once and for all.

3

‘WandaVision’ (2021)

Created by Jac Schaeffer

The first true venture for the wider MCU creating miniseries on the same level of production and quality as their traditional feature-length blockbusters, WandaVision came swinging out of the gate to prove the MCU’s capabilities in an episodic format. The series sees Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) enjoying a quaint, sitcom-inspired suburban life in the small town of Westview, New Jersey. However, nothing is as it seems, as the cracks of this paradise world begin to show themselves as Wanda fails to come to terms with the loss of Vision (as seen in Avengers: Infinity War).

While many MCU miniseries fall into traps of not necessarily justifying their existence as a series over what could have been a perfectly fine movie, WandaVision from its core is built around the episodic format. The film has frequent buildups and mysteries with each passing episode, an ever-evolving theme of sitcom history with each episode satirizing a different sitcom era, and an overall respect for the medium of television as a whole. It isn’t without its flaws, but it stands as the undeniable peak of the MCU style translated to television series and cemented Scarlet Witch as one of the MCU’s best female characters.

2

‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ (1992 – 1997)

Created by Mark Edward Edens, Sidney Iwanter, and Eric Lewald

While the massively successful X-Men franchise has continued to make the mutants a mainstay in the public eye, X-Men: The Animated Series is still the go-to adaptation of the characters for many audiences worldwide. The series follows the ventures of a team of superpowered mutants teaming up to take down an array of villainous mutants as well as destructive humans looking to end mutant-kind. The series sticks true to the same values and core that made the original comic such a phenomenon, creating one of the defining action cartoons of the 90s in the process.

X-Men: The Animated Series understands from a fundamental level that the mutant team was always much more than a standard superhero team with creative powers, but an avenue to tell stories about powerful and relevant social issues. This rendition simply modernized and evolved the social component of the characters to the zeitgeist and issues of the 90s, tackling concepts such as religion, divorce, and even AIDS hysteria. The series still holds true as a powerful tool for good with its messaging, and is one of the major reasons that it has stayed a fan favorite for so many years.

1

‘Daredevil’ (2015 – 2018)

Created by Drew Goddard

Considering that the original Daredevil movie was one of the worst movies of 2003, it’s shocking that a grittier and darker Daredevil television series would manage to actually find success, yet Daredevil succeeds in nearly every metric possible for an action crime-drama series. The series follows the rise and struggles of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer-by-day who takes the law into his own hands at night by acting as a masked vigilante. His nighttime brawls find him uncovering a conspiracy surrounding the criminal underworld, led by the notorious Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Daredevil manages to do everything right in elevating the depth and abilities of the character in a mature and gritty setting, from tight-knit, hardened action sequences to topical legal dramas and political navigating. The film doesn’t shy away from any of the darker and more destructive aspects of the character, fully earning its TV-MA rating in the process as a dark and heavy look at crime. The series, even after ending, continues to be one of Marvel’s biggest critical successes, resulting in the series being adopted into the primary MCU with the upcoming revival series, Daredevil: Born Again.

NEXT: The 10 Best Superhero TV Shows of All Time, Ranked