The Marvel Cinematic Universe has some truly great movies, but some Marvel TV shows are better than most of them. As far as the best-ranked MCU movies go, entries like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther tend to be mentioned.
While there are not many Marvel TV shows better than these, there are some better than most other movies in the MCU. Some smaller screen efforts from the studio have led to Marvel shows people wish to forget, if only to experience them for the first time all over again. Upcoming Marvel movies would do well to outrank these specific entries in the eyes of fans.
From MCU installments themselves to outside productions and shows that prove how to do an interconnected comic book universe, here are six Marvel TV shows that could easily be ranked above most of their movie counterparts.
Agents of SHIELD
Agents of SHIELD began as a TV show set firmly within the MCU’s continuity. As the show progressed, though, it became something else entirely, standing on its own as a Marvel TV entry that ended up surpassing many of the movies it originally connected to. Agents of SHIELD‘s many unexpected decisions actually turned out for the best.
Be it bringing back Phil Coulson or separating itself from the main MCU continuity altogether, decisions that could have been rash actually allowed Agents of SHIELD to become better than a large handful of Marvel movies. The show included a killer depiction of Ghost Rider, had time-travelling fun akin to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, a great cast of heroes, and solid emotional beats.
Yes, there are many great Marvel movies in the MCU, but many who have seen Agents of SHIELD would now rank the show above them.
Daredevil
Daredevil is another show, like Agents of SHIELD, with a strange relationship to MCU canon. Initially, it was considered part of the MCU’s main continuity. However, as time went on, the show became its own entity, alongside the other entries of Netflix’s so-called Defenders timeline. Unlike Agents of SHIELD, though, Daredevil was retroactively fitted back into MCU canon.
All that confusion aside, Daredevil is better than all but the best MCU movies. It has a serious tone that a lot of MCU movies are lacking, with the same being said for an added level of gore and violence. The show is not reliant on that, however, as it still includes moments of levity, great characters, and fantastical superhero elements.
As a three-season show, not counting the rebooted Daredevil: Born Again, Daredevil had more time to flesh out its characters in one season than most MCU movie series or trilogies have. The mature elements of Daredevil make it a more compelling watch than some of the MCU’s lighter efforts, with the rest of the show’s qualities further propping it up.
Loki
A true MCU TV show in most senses is Loki, produced by Marvel Studios and never once being doubted as part of MCU canon. That said, what sets Loki apart is, well, what sets it apart. Loki feels different from almost everything else in the entire MCU, thus allowing it to rank above many movies in the franchise, and just about every other TV show.
Loki introduced the TVA to the MCU, allowing for time-travelling plots, multiversal variants, outlandish concepts like The Void, and a wholly distinct tone. Many MCU movies face the criticism of being the same in tone and style. Loki, much like Daredevil, does not conform to this.
Loki is entirely unique, featuring a mix of sci-fi and fantasy in its plots, characters, and visual designs. This was all topped off by one of the single-best character moments in the entire MCU when Loki became the god of the multiverse. Rarely do intense character studies exist in the MCU like Loki, proving it better than almost every movie in the franchise.
X-Men ’97
X-Men ’97 is also a Marvel Studios production, only set in the timeline of X-Men: The Animated Series. The latter show was already great, and the fact that the former surpassed it also means it surpassed several MCU movies. X-Men ’97 is truly excellent, featuring stunning animation, fascinating continuations of character arcs from The Animated Series, and stellar writing.
Some of the lines in X-Men ’97 still stick in the mind to this day, perfectly encapsulating the themes of fighting against bigotry in the way X-Men does best. As a result, X-Men ’97 is better than every single movie in the X-Men timeline and is only beaten by the few aforementioned MCU movies.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is often considered the best animated Spider-Man TV show ever made, and there have been some excellent entries. As such, it stands above a large majority of MCU movies. The MCU’s Spider-Man movies alone are somewhat controversial, save for the mostly beloved Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Even still, that movie does not focus entirely on any one iteration of the Web-Slinger like The Spectacular Spider-Man does. The show, across its two seasons, explores a wealth of well-known Spider-Man storylines in its own unique way, leading to one of the best iterations of Peter Parker ever put to screen.
This allows The Spectacular Spider-Man to go down as a better Spider-Man story than any MCU Spider-Man movie. With Spider-Man: No Way Home often counted among the franchise’s best movies, that also means Spectacular Spider-Man is higher regarded than most MCU theatrical efforts.
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
The MCU was the first true live-action interconnected universe, for which it will always remain popular. However, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes did exactly this, two years before the MCU’s The Avengers was released. The show was a fully-realized Marvel universe, complete with heroes outside of the titular team.
This meant it was extremely well-received by fans and audiences alike. It had already surpassed the likes of The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, which had been released at the time of its debut in 2010, in being a great comic book adaptation. Yes, The Avengers helped the MCU reach a new level, but it still rarely matched The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
The show was a better outing for the titular team than Avengers: Age of Ultron in the MCU, and just about every standalone story besides a few standouts, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and others of the same quality. Overall, though, there are not many Marvel Cinematic Universe movies better than The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, or the other Marvel shows on this list.