Marvel superhero movies have been growing in popularity over the years, thanks to classics such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers. However, Marvel heroes aren’t just limited to the big screen anymore. Thanks to the success of the many Marvel movies, plenty of TV shows have started crawling out of the woodwork. If you want to get your superhero fix without going to the cinema, here are the best Marvel based TV shows today.
Jessica Jones
We have to kick off with Jessica Jones, which is easily one of the best Marvel-based TV shows out there. Created for Netflix (as most of the Marvel shows generally are), it follows the moody former superhero turned private investigator, Jessica Jones. Krysten Ritter plays the main character, and you’ll probably recognize her from shows like Breaking Bad and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, as well as movies such as 27 Dresses and Confessions of a Shopaholic. Ritter plays the character, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, perfectly. She’s the perfect anti-superhero in a way! There have been two series so far, with (hopefully) plenty more on the way.
Luke Cage
We’re actually first introduced to Luke Cage in Jessica Jones before he received his own show in 2016. Cage is the ultimate superhero story, having being involved in an experiment gone wrong (sounds familiar) which then gives him superhuman strength and unbreakable skin. The former convict becomes a fugitive, attempting to fight crime in Harlem, New York. Mike Colter plays the beefy hero and decided to portray a slightly different character to the one we first meet in Jessica Jones. He explains this change in personality by saying that you’re not always the same person around everyone you know; for example, you’d act differently in front of your mom and your boss. Smart!
Daredevil
Daredevil actually proceeded Jessica Jones, but many people don’t get into this series until after watching Jessica Jones according to Marvel execs. This superhero TV show is extremely different to any of the others we’ve seen, simply because Daredevil is blind. While you might think this is probably a pretty big drawback to being a hero, it means that all of his other senses are extremely heightened. Daredevil is known as Matt Murdock during the day, where he’s a high profile lawyer. At night, he fights crime on the streets of New York like any good superhero. This is definitely a must-watch before you see the next show on our list…
The Defenders
This Marvel-based TV series was released in 2017 and features Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil and Iron Fist. Each of these characters has had their own show in the lead up to The Defenders so that we’d get introduced to the characters before they team up and fight the forces of evil together. Sweet! Unfortunately, Iron Fist didn’t go down quite as well as the three others (which is why we haven’t added him to the list, sorry Iron Fist), however, he is an excellent addition to the show. The Defenders has just eight episodes on Netflix so far, but it’s thought that a second series is already being worked on. Particularly as the first series received a largely positive reception. So, once you’ve binged through all of the individual character’s stories, it’s definitely worth seeing them all fight crime together in this one.
With dozens of episodes over the four shows combined, we’ve given you plenty of Netflix binge-watching hours right there. Once you’re done, check out Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D too – by the time you’ve finished all these, there will likely be another new Marvel series for you to check out. They’re coming thick and fast!
