We all know that modern-day film and television are full of superhero material and comic book adaptations. Although mainstream comic book cinema started with Donner’s Superman and Burton’s Batman long before the MCU was even an idea, the latter is certainly responsible for this genre’s rise in popularity during the 2010s. Of course, this resulted in the comic book genre entering the world of television, with the Arrowverse and Gotham being some early examples, before the MCU started producing their own shows. Still, besides these mainstream titles, there are a whole plethora of “indie” comic book adaptations that certainly deserve your attention and in this article, we will show you the best adult TV shows like Invincible.
One of the recent ones is certainly Amazon’s Invincible, an animated adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s cult classic comic book about Marky Grayson, who, at the age of 17, discovers he possesses superpowers just like his father. The first season of the show ended on April 29, 2021 and while we’re waiting for seasons two and three of this critically acclaimed show, we decided to bring you a list of the 20 best TV shows like Invincible, ten animated and ten live action, which you can certainly enjoy while waiting. Enjoy!
10 adult animated TV shows like Invincible
One-Punch Man
Country: Japan
Original Run: October 5, 2015 – July 2, 2019
Episodes (Seasons): 24 (+12 OVA episodes)
Running Time: 24 minutes
Original Network: TV Tokyo
On an unnamed, Earth-like planet, powerful monsters and villains mysteriously appear and cause disasters. To fight them, patrons of the arts created the Heroes’ Association three years prior to the setting of the anime. Each of the members of the Hero Association is ranked from class C to class S, depending on their reputation and abilities. The main character of the show is a former clerk named Saitama, who commits heroic deeds for his own entertainment.
Since childhood, he dreamed of becoming a superhero, and three years prior, he began his training, which brought him to the point that now he can defeat any opponent with just one punch. Despite his exploits, Saitama did not advertise them and remained unknown to society for a long time. Having found the young cyborg Genos as a student, Saitama decides to join the Hero Association, where, having passed all the tests with records, but failing the written part, he falls into the C-class of the heroes roster.
It so happens that most of the heroes who meet Saitama look down at him, not believing that he is actually stronger than any hero of the Association, but those who get to know him better begin to respect his incredible strength and modesty. Gradually, Saitama gains some fame, but society still refuses to recognize his merits and even criticizes the hero for the city buildings destroyed during the battles. Despite this, Saitama continued his membership in the Hero Association and was enrolled in the B-class.
After the alien attack, whose ship was destroyed by Saitama, the Hero Association received additional funding and expanded its own influence. The monsters, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the Association, created their own Association of Monsters, which began an organized fight against superheroes.
Well, as far as anime is concerned, One-Punch Man is certainly among the most popular recent titles available for viewing. This show about a very bored superhero might not be completely like Invincible, as the concept is largely different, but it shares enough common elements, including the violence and the somewhat ironical subtext, for us to list it here as a show that you’ll likely end up loving if you liked Invincible.
Samurai Jack
Country: United States
Original Run: August 10, 2001 – May 20, 2017
Episodes (Seasons): 62 (5)
Running Time: 22 minutes
Original Network: Cartoon Network, Adult Swin
The series’ protagonist is a samurai named Jack, who was born a prince in feudal Japan. At the age of only six, Jack sees a giant pitch-black yōkai named Aku destroy and burn down the imperial palace and the surrounding city. Ten years prior, Jack’s father had accidentally summoned Aku. The emperor was initially able to defeat Aku with the help of a sacred katana, but Aku was freed again during a solar eclipse.
Jack’s father tries to attack Aku again with his katana, but the yōkai can capture the emperor this time. Jack is brought to safety and out of the country by his mother; she flees to Nepal and hides the sword in a Buddhist monastery. Meanwhile, Jack travels the world.
After many years, when he was a young adult, Jack traveled to his mother and asked her to hand over the holy sword. Jack then returns to Japan, where he finds out that his father and the entire people of Aku have been enslaved and now have to toil in crystal mines under inhumane conditions. Jack immediately goes to Aku and the first showdown takes place.
Just when Aku Jack is about to deliver the final blow, Aku casts a powerful time spell that moves Jack into the future. The future is dominated by high tech and is now predominantly populated by humanoids and anthropomorphic monsters. Jack initially suffers a culture shock. In addition, thanks to his godlike powers, Aku has subjugated the entire earth.
Fortunately, Jack encounters kind-hearted people and beings who secretly revolt against Aku and report to Jack about powerful time portals. These are said to be spread around the globe and with their help, Jack could go back to the past. Jack immediately sets off on an adventurous journey around the world to find the time portals.
Meanwhile, Aku learns that Jack not only survived, but – as a side effect of the time magic – is no longer aging. Aku tries to kill Jack, but is unsuccessful every time; even the most talented assassins and bounty hunters Aku sends against Jack fail miserably.
Later, Jack falls in love with a former assassin and ninja named Ashi. It is then revealed that Ashi was born from Aku’s magic and is thus his daughter. But she turns against Aku and Jack can finally destroy the yōkai. Ashi uses her powers to cast the same time spell that brought Jack into the future. Both travel back to the 19th century, but Ashi pays an expensive price – without Aku, she was never created and ultimately disappears.
Cartoon Network did have its fair share of mature cartoons, but Samurai Jack is probably the darkest among them. This anime-inspired cartoon was a hit for Cartoon Network, more so because it was very different from what Cartoon Network generally had to offer. The story was truly amazing, the dystopian setting felt authentic and Samurai Jack was truly an interesting piece of adult animation that you could definitely like if you liked Invincible, which is why we recommend it here.
Undone
Country: United States
Original Run: September 13, 2019 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 8 (1)
Running Time: 22–24 minutes
Original Network: Amazon Prime
Alma Winograd-Diaz, who has a Mexican indigenous background on her mother’s side, suffered hearing loss at the age of 3 and has had a cochlear implant since she was 9 years old. Her paternal grandmother had schizophrenia and her father, a theoretical physics professor who had researched time travel, died with a student in a car accident when Alma was little.
After her sister Becca’s engagement party, Alma has a car accident after an argument with her and ends up in the hospital. After waking up from a coma, she can see her dead father and learns from him her ability to shift the timeline to travel to and prevent the evening of his death. He cannot remember anything before the accident and does not know how it happened.
Together with her friend Sam, she investigates who could have murdered her father, but when she manages to jump to Halloween evening after Becca’s wedding, Alma and her father realize that he killed himself and his student Farnaz. He changes what is happening by avoiding the triggering situation this time.
In the end, it remains to be seen whether this will bring her father back in the present and whether everything really happened or was imaginary due to Alma’s mental illness.
Although Undone is much lighter in tone than Invincible, this show is a good match because it explores the traditional elements of a coming-of-age drama in a superheroic (or supernatural) setting. Undone is yet another Amazon Prime show, which proves that the service is really doing a good job with its superhero productions. We really do think that you’ll like Undone as much as we did and seeing how we only have one season so far, it’s not going to take long for you to get hooked to the show. Plus, the animation is truly amazing!
Primal
Country: United States
Original Run: October 8, 2019 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 10 (1)
Running Time: 22 minutes
Original Network: Adult Swim
A caveman, Spear, after a deadly fishing session where a Deinosuchus nearly devoured him, returns from fishing to find his mate, son, and daughter devoured by a trio of horned Tyrannosaurs. Distraught, he contemplates suicide before resolving to take revenge. He comes face to face with the hornless Tyrannosaurus Fang, with two offspring with her. The sight of the young dinosaurs causes Spear to back down, just as they are attacked by the horned Tyrannosaur pack.
Though Spear helps Fang kill two of them, their gargantuan alpha eats Fang’s babies. Spear and Fang slay the alpha, but Fang is left distraught over the loss of her children. Spear leaves Fang and walks off alone, but is later approached by Fang, and the two decide to travel together.
While hunting warthog-like suids, Fang consistently bogarts any food she and Spear come across, causing him to snap and attack Fang, losing his spear in the process, but their fight is interrupted when they wander into a den of large snakes. A flash flood rushes them into a swampy river, where a Titanoboa resides. Fang kills it, but she and Spear fall down a waterfall, causing him to hit his head on the way down.
Fang pulls Spear from the water, and as he comes to, Fang fetches Spear’s lost weapon. They reconcile and continue their journey together, now hunting food as a team. In the harshness of primordial winter, an elder woolly mammoth is separated from its herd and subsequently killed by Spear and Fang. Spear harvests as much meat from the mammoth as he can.
When the dead mammoth’s herd comes across their desecrated elder, they follow the sled’s tracks and attack Spear and Fang. The pair attempt to fight them off, but they are quickly overwhelmed. In a final act of desperation, Spear defends himself with the elder mammoth’s tusk and notices that the other mammoths stop their attack upon seeing it. He returns the tusk to them, who leave in peace and bring it to their mammoth graveyard to mourn.
After Spear and Fang evade a pack of Dromaeosaurs, they experience a red lunar eclipse and encounter a tribe of cavepeople being attacked by gigantic red bats. They attempt to fight the bats off, but Spear is carried away by one, his spear left behind with the cavemen. Fang pursues the bats to a tall stone pillar, which she finds impossible to climb.
Seeing two of the bats emerging from the top, she plays dead and allows them to carry her to a cave at the peak. While searching for Spear, Fang discovers the nest of a massive spider that the bats share their food with. Fang frees Spear, who helps her kill the spider.
As the bats return, Spear and Fang use the spider’s webbing to safely descend the pillar. Spear retrieves his spear from the cavemen as he and Fang flee from the bats and lead them into a fight with the dromaeosaurs before safely escaping towards the rising sun.
From the creative genius that brought us Samurai Jack, Primal is a thrilling new show that doesn’t really have to do with superheroes, but its brutality and realism are that we think might be appealing to Invincible fans. Primal is set in a prehistoric setting and in that aspect, Genndy Tartakovsky managed to do wonders with the plot and the show’s authenticity. Primal is definitely something we’d recommend and we are quite certain you’re going to enjoy it.
The Awesomes
Country: United States
Original Run: August 1, 2013 – November 3, 2015
Episodes (Seasons): 30 (3)
Running Time: 23 minutes
Original Network: Hulu
In the future, Washington D.C. will be plummeting into destruction caused by the powerful supervillain Doctor Malocchio causing chaos and suffering with a powerful weapon and his super ability of hypnosis. Holding a broken arm, Prock will emerge from a wreckage to confront the villain while commenting on how his pleasant facade had the whole world fooled by his scheme.
Dr. Malocchio will sarcastically marvel at how Prock easily figured the whole thing out while walking toward the defiant young hero and ranting about being unstoppable since he was able to take the powers away from all the superheroes in the world. Prock will assure he will be able to stop him, while Malocchio will retort he never had any powers and would never be his father.
Finally, the two rivals will launch head-on for each other, which is where the narrative stops and moves at a different point in time. A news reporter stood in front of posters of Mr. Awesome, reporting on it being the hero’s ninetieth birthday and he was holding a giant press conference. Many superheroes had shown up for the occasion, including Prock.
In an interview, Prock, his arm unbroken at the moment, tried to explain how his name is a portmanteau combination of the words “professor” and “doctor”, but finding him incredibly boring the press panned cameras from him to a puppy with a shoe in its mouth. Mr. Awesome is retiring, meaning that a new set of superheroes has to take his place to defeat Malocchio and other villains. Later throughout the show, the new Awesomes have to fight against various supervillains, while also coming to terms with their own, personal issues.
As far as The Awesomes are concerned, they’re in a way a spiritual predecessor of Invincible, with the main difference being that The Awesomes was never intended to be a dark, brutal and gritty representation of the superhero world, but rather a much more relaxed and socially aware version. The coming-of-age aspect is great though, along with the humor, and the show tackled some important social issues, which is why we definitely recommend it.
Spawn
Country: United States
Original Run: May 16, 1997 – May 28, 1999
Episodes (Seasons): 18 (3)
Running Time: 30 minutes
Original Network: HBO
The series centers around the story of a former military man who fought in the Vietnam War as a commando named Al Simmons. He was betrayed and murdered by a man whom he believed to be his close friend (the man named Chapel burned him alive with a flamethrower). Shortly after his death, Simmons vowed revenge on Chapel and hoped that one day he would return to his beloved wife Wanda.
In order to achieve his promise, he makes a pact with the devil (referring to him in the series as Malebolgia). The pact was simple: Simmons would become a general in the Malebolgia army (known as the “Hellspawn” or “Spawn” for short) in exchange for the ability to walk on earth once again in order to see Wanda. Simmons was tricked and his body was not returned to him.
Simmons, on the contrary, had obtained a different body that was cadaverous and full of worms and that, in addition, had a huge bright red cape. This new body had rotted for some time and was in an advanced state of decomposition, prompting Simmons to don a mask to cover his grotesque appearance.
After his return to “life”, Spawn searches for Wanda, who apparently endured the pain of losing her husband and married another man, Al’s best friend, Terry Fitzgerald, with whom he apparently had an affair and a daughter.
Terry, a respectable man, works for a man named Jason Wynn. Wynn is a black-market arms dealer, among other things (such as being the head of some government organizations, one of which sent Simmons and his team to Vietnam). It is also revealed that Wynn was the man responsible for ordering Al Simmons’s death due to a disagreement the two had with each other. Jason’s actions would also prove dangerous to the lives of Terry, Wanda, and her daughter.
Al, realizing that he is no longer the man in Wanda’s life, vows to protect her and her new family. The series shows Spawn nesting in a dark alley, killing anyone who invades his new territory. Rejecting these actions as unworthy of Spawn’s time and power, Malebolgia dispatches another of his minions (a demonic creature known as the Violator who assumes the form of an obese clown) to try to influence Spawn into further acts of violence and savagery in the name of Hell.
Spawn struggles to resist the temptation of evil as well as to try not to be hunted only by the forces of Hell but also to defend himself against the raiders of heaven, who have a need to destroy Hellspawn, in order to paralyze the forces of Hell, so they don’t get an advantage in the war between the two spirit realms. As the war intensifies the lines between the forces of good and evil are increasingly blurred.
Spawn, along the way, gets help in the form of a helpless old man named Cogliostro, who was once a Hellspawn who defeated the demonic powers that rested within, among a number of other characters. In the last episodes of the series, Spawn learns to change form and, disguised as Terry, he makes love to Wanda, impregnating her. It was revealed that there is a prophecy that the son of a Hellspawn will be the deciding factor at Armageddon, and it may be the real reason Spawn was allowed to return to Earth.
Controversial in many ways, Spawn is a really brilliant example of a show that takes the issues of Invincible and brings them onto a completely new level as far as adult content is concerned. Disgusting, bloody and full of gore, Spawn is considered to be a classic of superhero animation and a show that has, with only 18 episodes, achieves cult status. If you like a darker show, the Spawn animated series is certainly going to be something you’ll enjoy wholeheartedly.
Batman: The Animated Series
Country: United States
Original Run: September 5, 1992 – September 15, 1995
Episodes (Seasons): 85 (2)
Running Time: 22 minutes
Original Network: Fox Kids
After losing his parents to a shoplifter, young billionaire Bruce Wayne, following years of training, decides to pursue a fight against crime to make his hometown of Gotham safer. To do this, the billionaire transforms his vigilante uniform into something that can strike fear into his enemies, a bat: Batman is born.
Helping Batman is Bruce’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth; his adopted son Dick Grayson, who plays Batman Robin’s assistant; and finally Commissioner Gordon, unaware of the identity of the vigilante, and his daughter Barbara Gordon, who wears, unbeknownst to everyone, the Batgirl mask.
To face the nicknamed Dark Knight, are colorful and curious criminals disfigured or endowed with some supernatural powers: among the most important are the Joker, the clown prince of crime that Batman accidentally created when he threw an anonymous gangster into a vat of chemicals; the aristocrat Oswald Cobblepot, known as the Penguin; former district attorney Harvey Dent, who, following an explosion that disfigured half of his body, became the schizophrenic Two-Face; Pamela Isley, aka Poison Ivy, who can control all plants and hypnotize people;
ex-professor and fear researcher Jonathan Crane, who wreaks havoc with his concoctions and gases under the guise of the Scarecrow; ex-boxer and freak Killer Croc; the brilliant and feared riddle fanatic Edward Nigma, aka the Riddler; the dangerous Bane, armed with a steroid, Poison, which grants him incredible strength; actor Matt Hagen who, following too much use of a facial cosmetic, becomes the shapeshifter of the Clayface;
the curious Ventriloquist Arnold Wesker, controlled by the Scarface doll; mind control genius Jervis Tetch, who inspired his criminal figure to Alice in Wonderland’s character, the Mad Hatter; the persuasive and elusive animal lover Selina Kyle, who plays the role of the thief Catwoman, and for a brief moment an ally of the beloved Batman; the Joker’s mad assistant and lover, Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn (making her first-ever appearance in this series), former Arkham Asylum psychiatrist;
the immortal Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia al Ghul, who through the Well of Lazarus live in the centuries that come with the attempt to purify the Earth from humanity; and the icy cold scientist, Mr. Freeze, grieved by the alleged loss of his wife in an accident that prevents him from surviving in freezing temperatures.
The different episodes of the series show Batman, Robin and their allies defeating the criminal on duty by facing different obstacles and sometimes their past or the criminal’s past until Batman emerges victorious from the confrontation and arrest the criminal. Several characters are created (or in the case of Mr. Freeze and Two-Face, recreated) in this series: among them are Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya, the Condiment King and Lock-Up.
Okay, Batman: The Animated Series is neither dark as Invincible, nor is it a coming-of-age story for the most part. But, Batman: The Animated Series was a revolutionary work when superhero animation is concerned and it is by undoubtedly the best animated superhero show in history and among the best animated series in general. Although aimed at kids, the show is dark, it tackled very mature subjects and is in many ways a true masterpiece, which is why you definitely need to see it if you’re a fan of the genre.
My Hero Academia
Country: Japan
Original Run: April 3, 2016 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 94 (5)
Running Time: 23 minutes
Original Network: JNN, NNS
Most of the people in the world are born with super powers. Everyone receives a different power and the powers are used for good and bad, so that there is constant fighting between superheroes and super villains. The heroes, whose skills are called “quirks”, are trained in special schools.
The middle school student Izuku Midoriya would also like to become a superhero, but he belongs to the 20% of people without such skills. When he protects another child from a villain, he meets the most famous of all superheroes: All Might. All Might gives Izuku one of his hairs, thereby granting him superpowers.
This specialty gives Izuku physical strength that increases over time. However, he can hardly control them at first. But now he can follow his dream and go to U.A. High School. This is where his competitor Katsuki Bakugo, girlfriend Ochako Uraraka and class representative Tenya Iida also go to. Another competitor of Izuku, the son of the famous hero Endeavor, Shōto Todoroki, has the ability to create fire and ice, whereas he only uses his ice attacks.
After losing a match to Shōto, Izuku is taught by the former master of All Might, Gran Torino. Izuku is still on the U.A. High school and will be by Shōta Aizawa. After the sports festival, the winner Katsuki is kidnapped by villains with the aim of getting him on his side. Through the intervention of the heroes, among other things, even All Might intervenes, he can be set free. But All Might’s powers are slowly drying up and he would like to train Izuku as his successor and the others should also follow in the hero’s footsteps.
For this purpose, the U.A. High school is converted into a boarding school. In order to obtain the early hero license, a competition is completed with many other schools. Izuku and the others get to the last round together, but in the last round, Katsuki and Shōto fail because of their own ego, while the others gain the premature hero license. Izuku then meets one of the Big 3, Mirio Togata, one of the best students in the opposite school.
My Hero Academia is in a lot of ways the perfect pair of Invincible, although there are some crucial differences. These two shows are very similar, they both have a darker aspect and they have a coming-of-age element, both of which are crucial for both shows per se. The anime has a somewhat different approach to the topic, but that is more a question of style than anything else. In the essential sense, My Hero Academia is a show you should like if you liked Invincible and that is why we actually recommend it for you.
Death Note
Country: Japan
Original Run: October 3, 2006 – June 26, 2007
Episodes (Seasons): 37 (1)
Running Time: 23 minutes
Original Network: Nippon TV
Light Yagami is a model student, bored with his lifestyle and tired of being surrounded by a society filled with crime and corruption. His life takes a decisive turn when one day he finds on the ground a mysterious black notebook, entitled “Death Note”, which bears the following instruction: “The human whose name will be written in this notebook will die”.
Initially skeptical of his authenticity, Light changes his mind when he successfully tests the notebook on two criminals and meets the real owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk; he then decides to use this new power to kill all criminals, eradicate evil and become the “God of the new world”.
However, as he begins to put his purpose into practice, the growing number of unexplained deaths draws the attention of Interpol agents and the most famous private detective known as L. Thanks to Light’s recklessness, L quickly discovers that the serial killer, nicknamed by the people “Kira”, resides in Kantō and can kill people from a distance. Light learns of the investigation, as the police father joins the Japanese division that opposes Kira.
The young man then tries to create an iron alibi and manages to be accepted into the investigative team alongside L, while a war of intellect and psychology continues between the detective and Kira. During the confrontation between the two opponents, a second Kira takes over; her identity is Misa Amane, a Japanese idol of some fame. After a series of events that lead the Death Note to change its owner several times, Light manages to manipulate Rem, the shinigami owner of the notebook used by Misa, to kill L to protect the girl.
Although the police have discovered the existence of the Death Notes and the Shinigami, Light, now above all suspicion, takes over the direction of the investigation team and continues the staging of the search for Kira with no more opponents able to oppose him. Five years later, in the United States, two new investigators, Near and Mello, set out to investigate the Kira case.
Near acts with the support of the government and creates the SPK, an organization born with the explicit aim of capturing Kira; Mello tries to achieve the same goal by making a pact with the mafia. The two boys prove to be at least as skilled as Elle and use any means to counter their opponent, so, thanks to a series of kidnappings, they are able to learn of the existence of Death Notes and begin to have strong suspicions towards Light.
The young man tries to take advantage of a meeting wanted by Near between the members of the two investigative teams to kill his new antagonists. However, Near foresees the intention and, with the help of one of the SPK members, Stephen Gevanni, replaces the notebook in possession of Teru Mikami, Light’s aide, with a fake. Light’s attempt therefore fails and he, now unmasked, he admits to being Kira. In a desperate attempt he again attempts to use a hidden fragment of the Death Note to kill his opponents, but is caught by gunfire from colleague Tota Matsuda. Before his injuries cause his death, Ryuk kills Light by writing his name in his notebook.
Death Note might not be your first pick when you think of Invincible, but bear with us on this one. Death Note, namely, doesn’t really have to do anything with superheroes or coming-of-age stories, but its supernatural mystery and its style certainly make it one of the best adult-orientated anime series you can watch. It is exceptionally thrilling and if you decide to watch the whole series, you won’t be able to predict what’s going to happen until the very end.
Castlevania
Country: United States
Original Run: July 7, 2017 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 22 (3)
Running Time: 23–31 minutes
Original Network: Netflix
The series begins in Wallachia in the 15th century. A woman named Lisa ventures into the castle of a mysterious man named Vlad Dracula Tepes. She wants to help people and has heard that he knows a lot about science and medicine. Despite her humanity and the fact that he is a creepy vampire, he is delighted with her and agrees to teach her her ways. They hit it off quickly and got married. Unfortunately, her knowledge is mistaken for witchcraft by high-ranking members of the Church.
She was soon arrested and burned at the stake as a heretic. Of course, things are not going very well with Dracula. Without Lisa, he sees no reason for people to exist and declares war. He raises an army of the dead, hires vampire generals to lead them, and massacres entire cities across Wallachia. His army includes two human generals, Hector and Isaac, who have the ability to forge demonic soldiers from corpses. Coming from a traumatic childhood, they have no love for their own kind and are loyal to Dracula.
A vampire general named Carmella is less enthusiastic about him and believes this war is a waste of time. She plans to take over Dracula’s castle and manages to put several people at her side, including Hector. However, Isaac swears total loyalty to Dracula and even kills members of his court on that side against him. All of this culminates in Carmella luring Dracula into an attempted coup in which his forces attack Dracula’s castle and army. She seems to be gaining the upper hand over her army until the castle is teleported by the heroes of this story.
Trevor Belmont, the last member of the Belmont family, is a hopeless and destitute drunk. After his family was excommunicated from the Church and their home destroyed, he gave up Belmont’s tradition of fighting evil. He falls in the city of Gresit, which is constantly besieged by Dracula’s hordes of demons. He comes across The Speakers, a nomadic tribe of monks who pass on their story orally by refusing to write anything. He saves the granddaughter of their leader, Sypha.
Shortly after, Dracula’s army attacked the city. Trevor reluctantly helps defend the townspeople, with Sypha proving to be a prime magical user. They manage to stop the demons, but the fight collapses the ground beneath them. Trevor and Sypha fall deep into the catacombs and are in the grave of the legendary sleeping soldier. The soldier turns out to be a man named Alucard, Dracula’s son. He slept to recover from the deadly wounds his father had inflicted on him while trying to stop his insane crusade against humanity.
The trio agree to unite to stop Dracula once and for all. They venture into the ruins of Belmont’s estate to rummage through his library of dark knowledge. Sypha learns and casts a spell that teleports her directly to Dracula’s castle. They reach for their weapons – including the morning star that kills Trevor’s vampires – and head straight into battle.
Castlevania is more of a fantasy/horror show than something directly connected to Invincible, but we have decided to list this cult anime series because of its darker tone and the fact that it is certainly among the best adult-themed anime series today. Castlevania has also achieved fame in the West and its dark, gritty and graphic approach to the show itself is something we adore and are sure you’ll adore to if you liked Invincible.
10 adult live action TV shows like Invincible
The Boys
Country: United States
Original Run: July 26, 2019 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 16 (2)
Running Time: 55–68 minutes
Original Network: Amazon Prime
The Boys takes place in a world where superheroes are actual celebrities. However, this is a tough business, behind which lies the powerful and large corporation called Vought International, which knows how to market and monetize its heroes. Although they strive to maintain a positive image in public, many superheroes are corrupted by their power and abuse it. They lack empathy and the ability to manage crises; they regard dead or mutilated people succinctly as collateral damage, and privately, many indulge in obscure perversions.
And then there’s Hughie Campbell. Hughie Campbell leads a carefree life as a salesman and hesitantly plans a future with his girlfriend Robin, until one day she is grossly negligently killed by the superhero A-Train when he runs through her on the street in front of his eyes and tears her to pieces. This causes desperation and bitterness for Hughie, with the fact that A-Train regards the incident with mockery and Vought cynically offers him compensation against a duty of confidentiality only fuel these emotions. Billy Butcher comes into his life and offers him revenge.
Led by Butcher, who blames the superhero Homelander for the death of his wife, Hughie and other allies form The Boys, a non-superhero group that, throughout the series, sets about using violence and blackmail against the superheroes.
Homelander is considered a national hero and is at the head of the Seven, the most famous superhero group (a parody of the Justice League and the Avengers). He knows how to hide his cruelty and contempt for normal people. Other members of the Seven are the disaffected, alcoholic Queen Maeve, the mysterious, silent Black Noir, the “invisible” Translucent, A-Train, the fastest man in the world, and The Deep, who struggles with his outsider role as “fish boy”. The young Starlight is accepted into the group as a new member. At first idealistic and full of zest for action, she quickly sobered up reality and the sexual abuse by The Deep.
Invincible is undoubtedly a spiritual successor to The Boys and that explains why we actually started this section with this exact show. The Boys are brutal, they’re thrilling, hilarious and, above all, quite important from a social and cultural point of view. The fact that this show is also Amazon’s further adds to the connection and we can honestly guarantee you that you’ll love The Boys if you’re a fan of Invincible.
Preacher
Country: United States
Original Run: May 22, 2016 – September 29, 2019
Episodes (Seasons): 43 (4)
Running Time: 42–65 minutes
Original Network: AMC
In Annville, Texas, local preacher Jesse Custer preaches an uninspired sermon to a bored church. A young boy asks Jesse to harm his father Donnie for abusing his mother. Jesse refuses, but checks in with Donnie’s wife, Betsy. On a business plane, an Irish vampire named Cassidy drinks and snorts cocaine with a group of hedge financiers, but kills them after learning that they are assassins in an attempt to take him out.
He jumps off the plane and lands near Annville. Jesse’s assistant, Emily Woodrow, warns Jesse about the precarious finances of the Church. Tulip O’Hare kills a gangster and grabs a card from his jacket. She tracks down Jesse in Annville and invites him to help with a job, but Jesse refuses.
In a flashback, a young Jesse sees men shoot his father John Custer in the head. Before his father dies, Jesse promises to be one of the good guys. Jesse visits Eugene Root, a severely disfigured teenager, to reassure him that God still loves him, despite everything he’s done wrong. Cassidy meets Jesse at a local bar. Jesse beats up Donnie after Donnie confronts him for talking to Betsy.
Sheriff Hugo Root arrests Jesse and Cassidy. The two bond in their prison cell. In the church, a “comet” knocks Jesse to the ground, except that it does not kill him. Jesse wakes up three days later. A parishioner, Ted, nags Jesse for advice about his troubled mother. After talking to a “new” Jesse, Ted goes to his mother’s retirement home, cuts open his chest, and removes his heart.
Jesse vows to be a better preacher and starts promoting church attendance. Fiore and DeBlanc arrive at the church where Jesse passes out drunk on the floor. They perform a ritual on Jesse. Cassidy comes in with a fresh bottle of whiskey, spots Fiore and DeBlanc and kills them before they can harm Jesse. Linus, one of the parishioners, confesses to Jesse that he is attracted to a young girl. Jesse tortures him and orders him to turn back.
When Jesse realizes that he has a special power, he visits Tracy Loach, a comatose teenager, and orders her to open her eyes. Tracy opens her eyes. Jesse tells Cassidy about his new strength. Tulip returns from a trip to Houston and tells Jesse that she got the address of a man named Carlos. Jesse agrees to help her kill Carlos, and they drive off together.
Fiore and DeBlanc reappear. They tell Cassidy that they are angels from heaven and that Jesse has something they need back. Cassidy promises to speak to Jesse. Donnie takes Jesse to a gas station and holds him at gunpoint. Jesse uses his power, the Word of God, to turn the gun on Donnie and flee. Then he changes his mind about Carlos and leaves Tulip.
Mayor Miles Person visits Odin Quincannon, owner of Quincannon Meat & Power, to propose a partnership with the Green Acre group to increase local tax revenues. Quincannon refuses. Tulip exchanges angry words with Clive while he lives in the local brothel. She attacks a man she thinks is Clive, but who is actually Cassidy. She takes Cassidy to the hospital and is shocked to find that he is recovering and is slurping blood in the blood bank.
To encourage church attendance, Jesse promises to give Quincannon his father’s land if the atheist Quincannon does not leave his Sunday service as a Christian. In worship, he uses the word of God and commands Quincannon to serve God. To everyone’s surprise, Quincannon agrees. The spectacle attracts more parishioners.
Another comic book adaptation, Preacher was a well-written show that truly captured most of the spirit of the original comic book. The show wasn’t really a cult classic and it ended after just three seasons, but it retained the gritty and violent atmosphere of the original comic book, which makes it somewhat comparable to Invincible. Invincible does seem to be a better choice, but Preacher will certainly entertain you more than enough, which is why we recommend it.
Doom Patrol
Country: United States
Original Run: February 15, 2019 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 24 (2)
Running Time: 45–60 minutes
Original Network: DC Universe, HBO Max
The Doom Patrol follows the unlikely heroes of the eponymous team, all of which have received their powers through tragic circumstances and are generally rejected by society. Most of the team members were treated by the Chief, a medic who gave them residence in his mansion to help protect them from the outside world.
Its name derives from a previous Doom Patrol team that was formed by the Chief. The first Doom Patrol members to be introduced to the series are Jane, the dominant personality of a traumatized woman with dissociative identity disorder; Rita Farr, who struggles to keep her body from turning into a jelly-like state; Larry Trainor, who has a negative energy entity living within him; and Cliff Steele, whose brain was placed in a robot body after a car accident.
Later, Victor Stone also joins the team, and he is a cybernetically enhanced superhero. In the first season, the Chief is captured by the malevolent Mr. Nobody, causing the Doom Patrol to go on a journey to rescue him. Along the way, they discover secrets about themselves and the Chief, from whom they eventually learn that he is responsible for the tragic events that gave them his powers.
In the second season, Dorothy Spinner, Chief’s daughter who possesses the ability to give life to her imaginary friends, joins the Doom Patrol. As members of the Patrol face their own personal dilemmas and wrestle with the truth about Chief, Dorothy inadvertently endangers the world when her powers threaten to unleash an ancient entity known as the Candlemaker.
Now, as far as comic book adaptations go, DC’s Doom Patrol is one of the more entertaining shows. It is quite quirky and full of strange, yet extremely lovable characters, which is what makes this show so charmingly good. It doesn’t have the same level of darkness and seriousness as Invincible, but it’s equally entertaining and fun, with very likable characters, which is the main similarity with Amazon’s animated superhero series.
Misfits
Country: United Kingdom
Original Run: November 12, 2009 – December 11, 2013
Episodes (Seasons): 37 (5)
Running Time: 45 minutes
Original Network: E4
Nathan, Simon, Kelly, Curtis and Alisha are a group of boys convicted of various minor offenses and then forced into social services. During the first day of work, however, they are hit by a strange storm that gives them unusual superpowers.
Tony, the social worker who watches them, also suffers the effects of the storm, which however are reflected in him in the form of violent aggression, so much so as to make him a threat to the protagonists. In an attempt to defend themselves, the five are forced to kill him.
Slowly then they begin to discover their powers: Simon realizes he can become invisible, Kelly discovers she can read the thoughts of others, Curtis manages to rewind time as in a flashback and Alisha unintentionally causes violent sexual reactions to whomever she touches. But Nathan doesn’t find out what her power is.
The protagonists then learn to live with these unusual powers, exploiting them in times of need, and at the same time avoid being discovered for the murder of Tony, whom, in the meantime, they have buried under an overpass. Another social worker is sent, Sally, who is also the fiancée and betrothed of Tony, the social worker killed by the protagonists. The woman, suspecting the boys, will try to find out what happened to her partner.
In the meantime, the boys will also clash with other people, discovering that not only they have received superpowers following the storm. In particular, they will have to deal with a girl who has the ability to control other people’s minds.
Simon, who in the meantime has fallen in love with Sally, discovers that she has actually lured him into a trap in order to find out about her missing partner and, in a fight, he mortally wounds her. The other protagonists instead fall under the influence of the girl with the mental powers and Nathan, the only one to escape, in an attempt to reason with them, falls from a roof remaining stuck in a grating below.
The “Misfits” bury Nathan’s body, with Kelly crying because she had fallen in love with him. Eventually, Nathan also wakes up to discover his power: immortality; the only problem is that he’s now buried under six feet of earth.
Misfits is, along with The Boys, the best alternative if you want something similar to Invincible. Although not an animated work, Misfits is a truly dark and gritty tale about the unlikely superheroes of our age, about actual misfits who obtain superpowers and now have to figure out what to do with them. The characters aren’t really of the same type as in Invincible, but the whole idea and the show’s structure is similar enough for us to recommend it wholeheartedly.
Happy!
Country: United States
Original Run: December 6, 2017 – May 29, 2019
Episodes (Seasons): 18 (2)
Running Time: 40-48 minutes
Original Network: Syfy
Nick Sax is a hitman and former homicide detective. Since his dismissal from the police force, he has led a reckless life full of alcohol, drugs, and unbridled violence. When the Scaramucci brothers try to liquidate him, he kills them. Before he dies, Mikey Scaramucci tries to whisper something to Nick.
He tells him that it is a password he got from his deceased uncle, crime boss Don Scaramucci. The don did not say exactly what this is good for. Since it may provide access to a lot of power, his brother Francisco “Mr. Blue” Scaramucci wants it at all costs. He is therefore willing to go over corpses to get Nick alive.
While Nick disposes of the Scaramucci brothers, a man in a Santa suit kidnaps little Hailey. The girl is a fan of a puppet show that revolves around so-called ‘Wishees’ and their creator, Sonny Shine. Hailey, therefore, goes to a live show with her mother Amanda, and imaginary boyfriend Happy, a small flying blue unicorn. Here the man in the Santa suit takes her.
After her captor locks Hailey in a wooden crate, Happy goes looking for Nick to persuade him to save the girl. During his first meeting with Happy, Nick first thinks he is hallucinating. Happy nevertheless manages to convince him that he is not a hallucination. When he also makes Nick realize that Hailey is his daughter, he goes looking for her. He finds numerous henchmen of Mr. Blue in his path.
In addition, there are all kinds of members of other criminal organizations who want to kill Nick to prevent him from giving Mr. Blue the password. Hailey is no longer able to see Happy, but Nick can still see him. He, therefore, decides to be his imaginary friend from now on. Nick tries to improve his life. He is determined not to drink, drink, kill, and be the best father to Hailey.
Merry McCarthy has been fired from the police force and is working as a real estate agent. She is nonetheless determined to put Sonny Shine behind bars. She tries her best to get Nick back into the hunt for him. In the meantime, Shine wants to transform Easter into the new Christmas, with the Wishees and him as the radiant centerpiece. His disguised companions actually turn out to be creatures from the underworld.
Shine also appears to owe his power to blackmail: he owns video recordings of countless powerful people acting out perverse fantasies. Mr. Blue becomes more and more possessed by Orcus, the god of death. With no more Scaramuccis left to jump to, he tries to fulfill his plans from the prison in which Mr. Blue is staying. He is recruiting an army from the inmates. Smoothie is alive and pretends to be on Sonny’s side. In reality, he has a plan to kill Shine as well as get revenge on Nick. Unable to remember what happened in Shine Tower, Amanda uses all sorts of resources to get rid of her bad feeling.
This strange blend of live-action and animation that once again shows the majestic acting talents of Christopher Meloni is a dearly missed show that certainly ended too soon. It was a very creative concept and it had more than enough darkness and depth for us to list it here as a good alternative for Invincible, although the shows do have a lot differences concept-wise. Still, Happy! is certainly a show worth watching and that is why we recommend it.
The Defenders
Country: United States
Original Run: August 18, 2017
Episodes (Seasons): 8 (1)
Running Time: 44–55 minutes
Original Network: Netflix
This series unites Marvel superheroes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to form a team that defends the city of New York and especially the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, and fights against a common enemy: The Hand.
As they hunt down the Hand agents in Cambodia, Danny Rand / Iron Fist and Colleen Wing are told that the war they are fighting is taking place in New York City. There, Matt Murdock has given up his life as the vigilante Daredevil and is working as a pro bono attorney.
He remains in conflict due to his feelings for Elektra, who died fighting the Hand. Luke Cage, whose name was approved by Murdock’s former partner Foggy Nelson, returns from prison to the streets of Harlem, where police detective Misty Knight informs him about local children who have been involved in a mysterious business and end up dead.
After learning that all of her major organs are failing and she has little time to live, a woman informs her colleagues to accelerate their plans, and then watches with a resurrected Elektra when a major earthquake rips through New York, and Rand and Wing watch her return, and private investigator Jessica Jones discovers explosives while searching for a missing husband that an anonymous person warned her to avoid.
(…)
In the end, Gao explains to Rand that the substance the Hand uses for resurrection comes from dragon bones, just as his Iron Fist abilities came from a dragon. The Hand begins to harvest the skeleton, weakening the city’s foundations and causing widespread destruction.
Wing and Temple set up the explosives to destroy the building once the others escape. They confront Bakuto, who cuts off Knight’s arm when he arrives to help. Wing beheads Bakuto, but his body triggers the timer for the explosives. Jones, Murdock, and Cage arrive at the cavern to aid Rand and fight the Hand members together.
When Murdock realizes that the explosives are about to explode, he gets the others to leave immediately. He continues to plead with Natchios, and the two are together, along with Gao and Murakami, as the building implodes around him. These events are covered by the authorities. Rand, Jones and Cage seek to move on and protect the city. An injured Murdock later wakes up in a room with a nun by his side.
Marvel has a lot of different TV shows at the moment, but only two of them really fit the mold needed for this list; one of them is The Defenders. A team-up of several of Marvel’s television heroes, The Defenders was a show that had us “at hello” and we’re quite happy to have had the opportunity to see it. It was well-written, it had depth, it had great characters and it was similar to Invincible in more than enough ways for us to recommend it here.
Gotham
Country: United States
Original Run: September 22, 2014 – April 25, 2019
Episodes (Seasons): 100 (5)
Running Time: 42–49 minutes
Original Network: Fox
The series is a crime drama that examines the origin stories of future Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) commissioner James Gordon and the gallery of villains who will run amock in Gotham City. In the first season, Gordon and his partner Harvey Bullock have the task of solving the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, witnessed, among others, by the child-thief Selina “Cat” Kyle.
At the GCPD, Gordon is assisted by forensic scientist Edward Nygma, detectives Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen, and District Attorney Harvey Dent. Meanwhile, an underground war takes place between two crime families led by crime bosses Carmine Falcone and Fish Mooney. The gangster Oswald Cobblepot is forced into the middle. At the end of the season, Cobblepot kills Mooney and claims himself the “King of Gotham”.
In the second season, Theo Galavan comes to Gotham with his sister Tabitha, with the order by the Order of St. Dumas to kill Bruce. Gordon, Cobblepot, Selina, and the GCPD managed to save Bruce, however. Elsewhere in Arkham, experiments are being conducted at a facility called Indian Hill, run by Professor Hugo Strange, which turns inmates into monsters.
After Gordon kills Galavan, Galavan’s body is retrieved and resuscitated by Strange, who transforms Galavan into the centuries-old vigilante “Azrael” who desperately wants revenge on Gordon. With the help of tech expert Lucius Fox and GCPD, Gordon manages to shut down Indian Hill. Without them noticing, a bus full of monsters escapes, including a revived Mooney and a clone of Bruce.
In season three, Gordon becomes a bounty hunter working to track down the monsters and is confronted by reporter Valerie Vale, with whom Gordon has a brief relationship before leaving Gotham. Using Valarie’s advice, Gordon tries to make amends with ex-lover Leslie Thompkins, who has a new partner, Mario Falcone, Carmine’s son, which brings Gordon into conflict with him.
Elsewhere, Nygma deals with his “Riddler” persona; Jervis Tetch’s sister Alice contains a virus later known as the “Tetch Virus” that the Court of Owls eventually seizes and uses against Gotham. Mooney uses Strange to develop a cure for the virus. Meanwhile, Bruce’s clone is adopted by the secret organization called the Court of Owls, while the real Bruce, with Ra’s al Ghul, also known as Demon’s Head, finds out that he is, one day, set to become Gotham’s Dark Knight. Bruce decides to become a masked vigilante with the help of his butler Alfred.
In season four, Cobblepot enacts a new “licensed crime” law that allows him to dominate the criminal underworld while Bruce seeks to rid the city of crime as a masked vigilante. Meanwhile, Jonathan Crane accepts his terrifying “Scarecrow” persona, while Jerome Valeska forms a cabal of criminals to plunge Gotham into anarchy. After Jerome is killed, his twin brother Jeremiah goes mad and follows in Jerome’s footsteps. Later, Ra’s and Jeremiah manage to turn Gotham into a “no man’s land”.
In the fifth and final season, Gordon and his allies attempt to restore Gotham with the help of his old Army colleague, Eduardo Dorrance. Dorrance is transformed into the superhuman “Bane” by Ra’s daughter Nyssa, who takes command of the military. Meanwhile, Bruce has his last confrontation with Jeremiah. Bruce leaves Gotham for extensive training while Jeremiah is sent to Arkham. Eventually, the military turn against Bane and Gotham will be restored. Gordon is promoted to GCPD Commissioner.
A decade later, Bruce returns as a bat vigilante. Jeremiah, who has pretended to be catatonic for a decade, escapes Arkham and kidnaps Jim’s daughter, but she is rescued by the vigilante. Gordon then sheds light on the GCPD and attracts the attention of the vigilante, whom Jim describes as a “friend.”
Okay, Gotham technically wasn’t a superhero show, but Fox’s take on the origins of the Batman mythos was a critically-acclaimed show that we truly loved. The show dared to explore a lot of different and new angles, giving us a new perspective on a well-known fictional universe. The darkness and the originality of the show is where it compares to Invincible, and although this is more of a police procedural thriller/drama, we still think it’s worth it.
Chuck
Country: United States
Original Run: September 24, 2007 – January 27, 2012
Episodes (Seasons): 91 (5)
Running Time: 40–46 minutes
Original Network: NBC
Chuck Bartowski is a 26-year-old boy from Burbank, Los Angeles County (California), where he works as a computer expert at the help desk at the Buy More electronics store with his best friend Morgan Grimes. Chuck lives with his sister Ellie Bartowski and future brother-in-law Devon Woodcomb, both doctors, who never miss an opportunity to encourage him both in his professional and sentimental life.
Early in Season 1, Chuck receives an email from an old college friend of his, Bryce Larkin, who turns out to be a CIA agent; when he opens the email, a neural supercomputer called Intersect, containing the entire government database, installs itself in his brain. Both the NSA and the CIA then send agents, Major John Casey and Agent Sarah Walker, respectively, to retrieve the data.
Initially, Chuck is unable to use the Intersect at will: the neural computer is automatically activated at the sight of faces, voices, and keywords present in the secret files, giving the boy short “flashes” containing the relevant information. Given the impossibility of recovering the data, the CIA decides to use Chuck as a resource, like an analyst.
In order to keep him safe, Chuck must keep his occupation at the Buy More and keep it a secret from both his family and friends. Agents Casey and Walker remain next to Chuck, with the cover of a colleague at the Buy More and girlfriend, respectively, who will work in the Weinerlicious sandwich shop first and the Orange & Orange yogurt shop next to the electronics store.
Now, Chuck is more of a comedy show and it has nothing to do with superheroes in the traditional sense, but it’s quite entertaining and we’ve had loads of fun watching it. It’s an adventure of sorts for you as it can expand your point of view, which is why we have ultimately decided to list the show here. Also, it has a very unlikely hero, a common man in a world of intrigue, which makes it even more interesting and worthwhile, as you’re able to relate to the titular protagonist.
The Mandalorian
Country: United States
Original Run: November 12, 2019 – present
Episodes (Seasons): 16 (2)
Running Time: 32–54 minutes
Original Network: Disney+
A few years after the fall of the Galactic Empire, in the remote regions on the edge of the New Republic, a lone bounty hunter called the Mandalorian carries out his “trade” under the aegis of a guild led by Greef Karga based on the planet Nevarro.
The Mandalorian (also called with the diminutive “Mando”) is part of a group of Mandalorians known as “the Tribe”, devoted followers of the Mandalore Creed, who live in the slums of the planet in almost complete self-segregation and are led by a Mandalorian called “the Gunsmith”, which deals among other things to create and repair weapons and armor of the members of the Tribe.
Mando accepts the task of recovering on behalf of an unknown client a creature, the Child, belonging to the same species as Yoda and also capable of controlling the Force, in exchange for a large quantity of the precious Beskar steel. With the help of an Ugnaught Kuiil, the Mandalorian finds the Child on Arvala-7 and steals him from the bounty hunter droid IG-11 (who has also come to recover the bounty on the baby).
While returning to his ship, Mando discovers that it has been dismembered by the Jawas to resell the pieces: with the mediation of Kuiil they propose to Mando to return them in exchange for a mudhorn egg, a powerful and aggressive horned beast. During the fight with the creature, Mando is almost killed, being saved at the last second by the Child who reveals extraordinary telekinetic powers that allow him to lift and immobilize the beast, finally allowing Mando to kill it.
Back on Nevarro, Mando delivers the Child to the client and discovers he is a former Imperial officer in charge of a stormtrooper garrison; shortly after, however, he regrets his gesture and returns to retrieve it, thus antagonizing his former client who puts a bounty on the Child. The gunslinger ends up being hunted by the other bounty hunters of his guild, who start looking for the Child to get the reward, but he manages to escape thanks to the intervention of the other Mandalorians of the Tribe.
Mando, having lost his place in the bounty hunters guild, travels to Sorgan, where he intends to leave the Child in custody in a remote village to allow him a quiet and safe life. After joining mercenary Cara Dune to defend the village from an invasion of Klatooinian raiders, Mando is ready to leave, but the Child is found by a bounty hunter and nearly killed. The Mandalorian then decides to take it with him to protect it.
After some adventures on Tatooine and a New Republic prison ship, Mando returns to Nevarro, where Greef Karga asks him to use the Child as bait to kill the former Imperial officer, who has taken over the city. Mando decides to leave the Child with Kuiil and use his closed cradle as bait during the meeting with the old client.
After the confrontation, in which the latter loses his life, Dune, Karga and the Mandalorian are surrounded by the stormtroopers of Moff Gideon, a former high-ranking official of the Empire, the real mastermind behind the plot to get the child.
Kuiil is killed and the Child captured, but is saved shortly thereafter by IG-11, whom Kuiil himself had reprogrammed to protect him. IG-11 brings the Child back to the Mandalorian, who is injured by Gideon but thanks to the Child, who uses the Force to protect him, he is not killed.
Disney’s The Mandalorian is an absolute hit that redeemed a whole generation of new Star Wars movies with an approach worthy of George Lucas’ Original Trilogy. The Mandalorian isn’t really about superheroes, but it is about unlikely heroes, it is about change, growing up and it is about actual stakes. On top of that, it is, quality-wise, one of the best shows in recent years. This is why we think you could like it if you’re a fan of Invincible.
Daredevil
Country: United States
Original Run: April 10, 2015 – October 19, 2018
Episodes (Seasons): 39 (3)
Running Time: 48–61 minutes
Original Network: Netflix
At the age of nine, young New Yorker Matt Murdock was blinded in an accident involving chemicals. In doing so, however, his other senses were extremely sharpened, so that he can, for example, easily hear the heartbeat of a person several meters away, or is able to smell perfume through several walls.
At that time he lived in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district in Manhattan with his father Jack, who as a prize boxer was repeatedly drawn into dubious betting shops that ultimately cost him his life. Later, Matt was taught martial arts by the blind “Stick” – who has similar keen senses as he – and then studied law.
At the beginning of the series, the now grown-up Matt opens a modest law firm with his best friend Foggy. At the same time, he begins to use his special skills against injustice and crime in Hell’s Kitchen. He quickly finds himself confronted with a well-organized association of several criminal syndicates that are involved in human and drug trafficking and, through bribery, also have police and politics under their control.
Wilson Fisk, the leader of one of the criminal syndicates, gradually usurped the power in Hell’s Kitchen and knocked out his competitors one by one. While Matt’s partner Foggy and her secretary Karen try to legally hunt down Fisk along with reporter Ben Urich, Matt takes the law into his own hands and uses his special skills to fight Fisk and the other criminal syndicates. After Fisk’s conviction, the members of three criminal organizations are brutally killed.
It turns out that these acts were all perpetrated by Frank Castle, soon to be dubbed the “Punisher” by the media. The three groups are responsible for the deaths of Castle’s family. After the police arrest him with Daredevil’s help, Foggy and Matt take over his defense when Karen discovers that Castle wouldn’t get a fair trial. While Foggy and Karen work hard on Castle’s defense, Matt is distracted by his ex-girlfriend, Elektra. Like him, she was trained as a fighter by Stick as a child.
Together they fight an ancient and mysterious Asian association called “The Hand”. Tensions grow between Foggy and Matt as Matt’s double life has a negative impact on their work together. After spectacularly losing the Punisher trial because Castle surprisingly insists on the witness stand that he is fully responsible for his actions, Foggy and Matt liquidate their law firm.
Through the mediation of an old friend, Foggy is employed in Jeri Hogarth’s office; Karen, who continues to investigate Castles deeds during and after the trial, is staying with the New York Bulletin with the help of Ben Urich’s former boss Mitchell Ellison. In prison, Castle meets Wilson Fisk, who uses the Punisher to secure a position of power in prison. In return, Castle receives information about the man responsible for the death of Castle’s family.
Fisk lets Castle escape from prison and take revenge. Elektra and Matt – soon supported by Stick – continue to fight against “The Hand”. Their head is Nobu, who was believed dead; this declares Elektra the “Black Sky”, the ultimate weapon of the “hand”. However, Elektra does not want to be used by the “hand” and sacrifices herself in the fight for Matt.
Daredevil is the second of the two Marvel shows we mentioned earlies as being worthy of comparison with Invincible. The style is similar to The Defenders and the dark, mature approach to the story is something that made Daredevil so popular and so beloved. In that aspect, although Daredevil is a completely different brand of the superhero, this show is something you’ll definitely enjoy and with it, we complete our list of recommendations.
