Shaping the culture of television, superhero TV shows have been around a lot longer than many people would think. Starting in 1952, the popular DC Comic’s character “Superman” was the first live action superhero debuting in his very own weekly 30 minute show.
Having to convey the powers of Superman was no easy task for the cast and crew from the 1950s. Now look at the superhero tv shows today. We just got to watch a universe of TV shows, Arrow, The Flash, Constatine, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning and Batwoman, come together for what possibly could have been the biggest TV show crossover in the history of television and change not only each individual TV show but change all the DC Comics movies as well. This branches out connecting movies and tv shows through the shared multiverse from the light hearted, critically acclaimed 1978 Richard Donner’s “Superman” to the dark showdown between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel in 2016 Zac Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Taking a step back from DC Comics superhero TV shows, Marvel hasn’t had the same luck with the best TV shows but they still impacted television nonetheless.
Starting in 1974 a TV show called “The Electric Company ” had a recurring skit starring the first live action Marvel superhero, Spider-Man. But it wasn’t until a few years later for a Marvel character to have their own TV show.
“The Incredible Hulk” debuted in 1978 and launched Marvel Comics into the world of Hollywood.
Remember, at this time comic books and superheroes were being marketed towards a nerdy teenage boys that could relate to the nerdy characters who got bullied and then gained powers.
Once the “Incredible Hulk” caught the attention of the audience, the production companies, NBC and CBS, decided to make a movie including a fan-favorite comic character the God of Thunder, Thor son of Odin in 1988s’ “The Incredible Hulk Returns.” This was the first major superhero team up ever, changing the way Hollywood thought about superheroes.
Taking a look at Marvel Comic TV shows today, they aren’t as popular as “The Incredible Hulk ” was but that’s because there are more options for superhero TV shows as a whole genre. There are 18 superhero shows still running as of 2020 with millions of fans worldwide.
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (AoS) was the first TV show to have a main story plot be shared with a movie series, although we already knew the TV took place in that universe it was cool to see how the fall of Hydra (a fictional nazi-terrorist group) played out on AoS and in the pre-summer block-buster “Captian America: The Winter Soldier” simultaniously.
Superheroes are dominating the box office with their movies, and crushing television ratings and views everywhere. The impact of these TV shows on the public’s view of superheroes has skyrocketed from teenage nerds from the 70’s to being everywhere in pop culture.
Even more impressive, two superhero TV shows are in the top 100 watched TV shows of all time on cable television. PLus, 8% of the most watched TV shows on Netflix are superhero shows.
While cable shows are beginning to lose interest from the fanbase of superheroes, DC and Marvel Comics are both finding homes at their respective streaming services, DC Comics on DC Universe and Marvel Comics on Disney+, both producing multiple TV shows better than ever at this very moment.
Although some may think that superheroes and their respective films are coming to an end, in actuality they’re coming back to be bigger and better than ever.