If you followed the box office receipts in 2025, you might believe the superhero genre was finally running on fumes. While James Gunn managed to drag Superman to the top of the charts as the year’s highest-grossing superhero film, a global haul of just over $616 million feels modest compared to the billion-dollar titans of the past. Meanwhile, critical darlings like Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps struggled to find a massive audience, failing to break big despite positive reviews. The narrative in theaters suggested fatigue, but anyone with a streaming subscription knows that the superhero genre just moved to the small screen.
Television in 2025 offered a glut of content that ranged from gritty street-level crime dramas to high-concept animated anthologies, proving that audiences will still show up if you give them enough time to digest the story. For this ranking, we are looking exclusively at new limited series or seasons that premiered and wrapped in 2025. That means we are excluding ongoing animated staples like Teen Titans GO!, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and Batwheels, which have ongoing seasons extending towards 2026. From the bottom of the barrel to the peak of the mountain, here is how the year’s superhero offerings stacked up.
Special Mention: Creature Commandos
Technically, Creature Commandos belongs to the class of 2024, but since its season finale dropped on January 9, 2025, it deserves a nod for kicking off the new year—and the new DC Universe—on a high note. James Gunn wrote every episode of this animated series, which follows a black ops team of monsters led by Rick Flag Sr. (voiced by Frank Grillo) and the Bride (voiced by Indira Varma). The show was a perfect appetizer for the new regime, blending the violent irreverence of The Suicide Squad with a surprising amount of heart. In addition, it established the magical and political corners of the new DCU with style, proving that the connected universe could thrive across different media without losing its narrative thread.
12) Iron Man and His Awesome Friends
It feels almost unfair to rank a preschool show against prestige dramas, but Iron Man and His Awesome Friends is part of the 2025 slate, and it sits at the bottom simply because of its limited ambition. Premiering on Disney Jr., the series follows a young Tony Stark (voiced by Mason Blomberg), Riri Williams (voiced by Kapri Ladd), and Amadeus Cho (voiced by Aidyn Ahn) as they protect their city from kid-friendly threats. It is a cute introduction to the Marvel Universe for toddlers, featuring low-stakes adventures and lessons about teamwork. While it succeeds at its specific goal of selling toys to a new generation, it offers absolutely nothing for the wider fanbase, serving as a reminder that not every piece of IP is meant for you.
11) Ironheart
Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) deserved better than being dumped on Disney+ after years of Ironheart delays. The series attempted to blend the technological world of its protagonist with the magical underworld of Chicago, embodied by the villainous Parker Robbins, also known as The Hood (Anthony Ramos). While the suit upgrades were cool and the clash between magic and science had potential, the series suffered from pacing issues and a tone that could not quite decide if it was a teen drama or a serious crime thriller. Critics were divided, with many noting that despite Thorne’s charismatic performance, Ironheart felt desperately in need of a soul, ultimately getting lost in the shuffle of the summer release calendar.
10) Bat-Fam
Spinning out of the surprise hit movie Merry Little Batman, Bat-Fam arrived on Prime Video with an idiosyncratic energy that you either loved or hated. The series focuses on the domestic life of Bruce Wayne (voiced by Luke Wilson) as he raises his son Damian (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) alongside a quirky extended family that includes a surprisingly wholesome Joker (voiced by David Hornsby). The sketchbook animation style is distinct, and the humor is genuinely funny, but Bat-Fam remains a niche product that intentionally sidesteps the brooding darkness usually associated with the Dark Knight. It is a fun, lighthearted romp, but it lacks the gravitas to rank higher on a list filled with heavy hitters.
9) Marvel Zombies
After years of anticipation following its introduction in What If…?, Marvel Zombies finally arrived on Disney+ as a four-episode miniseries that felt more like a blip than an event. The show leaned heavily into its TV-MA rating, delivering plenty of animated gore as a new group of survivors, including Shang-Chi (voiced by Simu Liu) and Kamala Khan (voiced by Iman Vellani), fought through a flesh-eating apocalypse. While seeing the undead versions of iconic heroes was visually striking, the short runtime prevented the story from developing any real emotional weight. As a result, Marvel Zombies ended up feeling like a collection of gnarly kill scenes rather than a cohesive narrative, leaving a hollow sense of “is that it?” once the credits rolled.
8) Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 2
The second batch of episodes for Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur hit Disney+ in early 2025, continuing the adventures of Lunella Lafayette (voiced by Diamond White) and her T-Rex partner, Devil Dinosaur (voiced by Fred Tatasciore). The animation remains some of the most vibrant and energetic on television, matching the chaotic brilliance of its protagonist. However, the season is tinged with melancholy due to the announcement that the show has been canceled, making these final episodes feel like a premature goodbye. Nevertheless, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur remains a smart, heartfelt, and visually dazzling series that was underappreciated, leaving a hole in Marvel’s animated lineup that will not easily be filled.
7) Eyes of Wakanda
Arriving with little fanfare in August, Eyes of Wakanda turned out to be a solid addition to the MCU canon, even if it failed to generate significant buzz. This four-episode anthology series explores the history of the Hatut Zeraze, also known as Wakandan War Dogs, across different eras, featuring standout warriors like Noni (voiced by Winnie Harlow) and Nkati (voiced by Cress Williams). The animation is breathtaking, blending different styles to match the time periods, and the storytelling adds significant depth to the lore of the Black Panther. However, its anthology format kept us from truly bonding with the cast, and the brief runtime prevented the series from feeling like a mandatory viewing event. Eyes of Wakanda is a beautiful experiment, but it ultimately feels like a supplementary footnote rather than a main chapter in the MCU saga.
6) Harley Quinn Season 5
At this point, Harley Quinn is a known quantity, and Season 5 delivered exactly what fans have come to expect: raunchy humor, ultra-violence, and the chaotic romance between Harley (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (voiced by Lake Bell). This season saw the duo taking on Metropolis, offering fresh targets for the show’s biting satire of the DC Universe. While the writing remains sharp and the voice cast is as stellar as ever, there is a creeping sense that the series is starting to spin its wheels. The shock value has diminished slightly over the years, and while Harley Quinn is still one of the most consistent comedies on streaming, it did not dominate the conversation the way it did in its earlier years.
5) Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Marvel Animation took a massive swing with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, presenting an alternate timeline where Norman Osborn (voiced by Colman Domingo) becomes Peter Parker’s (voiced by Hudson Thames) mentor instead of Tony Stark. The 3D cel-shaded animation style, designed to mimic the early Steve Ditko comics, was divisive among fans, with some finding it jarring. However, the writing was spectacular, capturing the awkward essence of the web-slinger perfectly. Finally, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man offered a fresh look at Peter’s high school years that felt distinct from the MCU movies, proving that there are still new stories to tell about the wall-crawler even after decades of adaptations.
4) Gen V Season 2
The second season of Gen V earns its high placement by stepping out of the shadow of its parent series to become essential television on its own merits. While the first season of Gen V was a fun expansion of the lore, Season 2 proved to be a brilliant exercise in handling real-world tragedy within a narrative framework. The writers chose to write the death of Andre Anderson into the story rather than recasting Chance Perdomo, a decision that grounded the supe-college antics in a palpable grief that elevated the entire show. Plus, critics praised the addition of Hamish Linklater as Dean Cipher, noting that his psychological chess matches with Marie (Jaz Sinclair) provided a tension that rivaled the best moments of The Boys. Season 2 of Gen V ranks this high because it managed to be emotionally devastating while still delivering the gross-out satire the franchise is famous for.
3) Peacemaker Season 2
James Gunn managed to pull off a magic trick with the second season of Peacemaker by taking a character defined by his muscles and turning him into the most fragile person in the DC Universe. While the first season of Peacemaker was a hair-metal party, this year offered a sobering hangover that forced Christopher Smith (John Cena) to finally look in the mirror. The brilliance of the “Earth-2” storyline wasn’t the multiverse gimmickry but how it weaponized nostalgia against the protagonist. By showing us a timeline where his father (Robert Patrick) was actually a hero, the show twisted the knife in Chris’s gut, stripping away his excuses and forcing him to grow up. Despite a controversial finale, Peacemaker Season 2 was a darker, sadder, and infinitely more compelling watch that proved John Cena is capable of carrying legitimate tragedy between the dick jokes.
2) Daredevil: Born Again
The biggest success story of 2025 was the course correction of Daredevil: Born Again. Marvel Television narrowly avoided disaster by scrapping its original legal procedural concept in favor of a spiritual sequel to the Netflix era. The resulting series wins the runner-up spot because it successfully recaptured the visceral identity of the original run while integrating the high stakes of the wider MCU. In addition, by bringing back the original supporting cast of the Daredevil show from the Netflix era and embracing a hard TV-MA rating, the show proved that the studio is capable of listening to its audience. Daredevil: Born Again is far from perfect, and we can still see how Marvel Television had to stitch two different stories together. Still, it clears the air for a second season that will be unburnoed by a creative rehaul.
1) Invincible Season 3
After a frustratingly disjointed release schedule for its second season, Invincible returned for Season 3 with a tight, weekly run that reminded everyone why it is the best superhero comic adaptation on TV. In the latest season, Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun) dons his new blue suit this season as he faces the escalating threat of the Viltrumite empire and the brutal arrival of Conquest (voiced by Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The animation saw a noticeable upgrade, handling the planetary-scale destruction with ease, and the introduction of Mark’s brother, Oliver (voiced by Christian Convery), added a fascinating new dynamic to the Grayson family drama. With a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes on release, Invincible proved it could balance the horrifying consequences of violence with a coming-of-age story that never feels derivative, earning it the top spot.
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