While live-actionsuperherostories seem to dominate the cinematic landscape, animated superhero shows often have an edge when it comes to TV. Superhero movies often tend to capture the imagination, and explore fantasy and sci-fi in ways that have gotten increasingly popular over time.
Whilesuperhero movies have been around for as long as cinema has existed, the last few decades have seen an explosion in the popularity of these stories, from Christopher Reeve’sSupermanmovies, through to the Tim BurtonBatmanfilms, and more recently withdifferent franchises like the MCU and DCEU.
However, these movies take hundreds of millions of dollars to make, and the film format means that each story has a rigid time limit. Whereas, with animated superhero TV shows, the costs are generally much lower, andtheway a story can be told becomes much more expansive and fluid.
The ultimate result is that many animated superhero shows tend to get the upper hand on their live-action counterparts, and deliver something wonderful and innovative for these characters. Buta handful of these shows have proven to be truly exemplarycompared to similar live-action projects.
7Batman: The Animated Series
Now, includingBatman: The Animated Seriesis not a slight against the incredible movies made by directors like Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, Christopher Nolan, or Matt Reeves, but it’simportant to highlight a lack of Batman live-action shows.
The Arrowverse brought a whole host of DC comic book heroes to life with incredible success.Superman & Loisdelivered a stunning Superman story over four seasons, butBatman has been one of the more elusive DC heroes to appear in TVformats.
There are shows that exist around the figure of Bruce Wayne, such asGotham, a prequel story, andBatgirl, which takes place later in Batman’s timeline, butnone of these have delivered a compelling and satisfying Batman story.
Meanwhile,Batman: The Animated Seriesstands out as one of the most foundational superhero shows on TV. With Kevin Conroy as the iconic voice of Batman, thisseries redefined the hero for a new generation.
6Batman Beyond
Similarly,Batman Beyondhas no peers in terms of live-action shows that depict this story.Batman Beyondwas uniquefrom many other superhero showsdue to the fact that the central character was an original creation for TV, but this character, Terry McGinnis, proved to be a popular new addition to the Bat-Family.
This show also showcases one of the most exciting reinventions of Gotham to date, with the story set decades into the future, and a whole new host of villains for young Terry to face off against. Meanwhile,Conroy returned to voice an elderly Bruce Wayne, filling a similar role to the one that Alfred Pennyworth played for his Batman.
This series is stunning, and there is nothing like it in live-action. Even in terms of recreating this initial magic from the 1999 cartoon, it seems to be elusive asthe character has largely disappeared from most projects outside the comics.
5Harley Quinn
Margot Robbie did a wonderful job of adapting a complex character like Harley Quinnto live-action, and across the three films where she played this role, her performance continued to get better each time.Suicide Squadstruggled with mixed reviews, butBirds of Preywas a major step in the right direction.
Following this, James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadtook the character further still, and ensured her legacy and popularity remained at an all-time high. However, all ofthese iterations had a slightly confusing and tenuous connectionto each other that got in the way due to a lack of clear canon in the DCEU.
However, theHarley Quinnadult animated series from 2019 has proven to be drastically more expansive and cohesive. Across five seasons, with the potential for more still to come,Harley Quinndives deep into exploring the characteras a fully realized and rounded out figure.
It touches on her previous obsession with Joker which is foundational for the character, but with so much more time to dig into her story,the series sees Harley evolve and change over time, in a way that is ultimately far more satisfying than previous live-action adaptations.
4Justice League (2001-04)
As the DCEU expanded and made efforts to establish DC Comics' premiere superhero team in live-action, the films fromthe franchise received a huge volume of mixed reviewsand criticisms, with a lot of focus on how the team forming felt rushed and unnatural.
Now, while the DCEU made its best effort to move fromMan of Steel, intoBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and then a literalJustice Leaguemovie, where this team was to be formed and then fight together, theJustice Leagueseries simply began with the hero team already working together.
The resulting excitement and action from this series comes from two epic seasons where these heroes fight enormous threats, and showcase why they are the world’s best and brightest heroes. It alsosuccessfully introduced the entire lineup of seven superheros, which the DCEU was unable to do.
3Teen Titans (2003-06)
While it’s interesting to see superheros tackle darker, grittier storylines sometimes,it’s also nice to see superheros embrace fun, happiness, and playfulness. That’s exactly what the 2003 animatedTeen Titansshow accomplished while putting the focus on younger heroes.
More recently, in 2018, DC released a darker version of this heroic lineup inTitans. The series undoubtedly has its strengths, and having secured four seasons, it proved popular. But,there was something lost in making these fun and whimsical characters into a bunch of broody runaways.
Teen Titansembraced the silly side of these stories, and stillexplored the individual characters with emotional depth and intrigue. This has also been lost in the latest iteration,Teen Titans Go!which leans so much further into wacky storytellingthat it loses most of its sensibilities.
2Green Lantern: The Animated Series (2011-13)
In 2011,Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds, proved to be one of the biggest failures from DC live-action, with an incredibly powerful and intriguing hero being reduced to a bizarre,uncanny CGI creature with creepy eyes. However, in the same year, an animated version of the character was also introduced inGreen Lantern: The Animated Series.
This proved to be a much more satisfying and enjoyable adaptation of the character, which was even awarded a 100% critic’s score onRotten Tomatoes, and an impressive 95% from audiences. Over 26 episodes,this show took the character further than the filmby several leagues.
1Todd McFarlane’s Spawn
Finally, Todd McFarlane’sSpawncame out in 1997, along with a live-action film of the character, and an animated film that was composed of episodes from the first season of the animated series. However,that’s where the story ends for both films, while the series continued for three seasons.
With such an ambitious hero, it was always going to be a challenge to get the character right in live-action, and with the casting of Michael Jai White, it was a good effort. But theanimated series has a considerable advantage in being able to lean into the supernaturaland wild elements of the comic story that inspired it.
The animated series ultimately delivers a better product, with a more complete and rounded-out story, andthe incredible talent ofKeith David behind the voice of Spawn, the titular hero. With all of that in place, the animated show is considerably better than the live-action film.
And similarly for all of the above and many other animated superhero adaptations, it opens the door to get as creative and colorful as the comics that inspire these stories, while still having the motion, excitement, and pacing of a live-action project. Ultimately, these animatedsuperheroshows are superior compared to their live-action counterparts.
