Top 20 Worst Animated Superhero Shows of All Time
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Worst Superhero Shows of All Time. For this list, we’ll be looking at the spandex-clad series that were far from super. Did we miss any heroic failures? Let us know in the comments!
#20: “The New Adventures of Batman” (1977)
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The caped crusader has one of the most iconic animated catalogs of any hero, ever. This just isn’t one of them. Despite the herculean effort of Adam West and Burt Ward behind the mic, this series leaned too far into camp to be taken seriously. It didn’t help that, due to rights issues, legendary villains like Scarecrow and the Riddler were replaced with the likes of Sweet Tooth. The show had more stakes for dentists than Gotham, but even that isn’t as bad as the inclusion of Bat-mite. The Dark Knight wannabe is truly one of the most annoying, frustrating, and altogether insufferable characters ever animated, and that’s putting it lightly.
#19: “Krypto the Superdog” (2005-06)
After the groundbreaking success of the solo Superman and Batman series, the same producers sought to replicate the formula with Man’s Best Friend. Enter: Krypto, the super-disappointment. He comes house-trained, with no personality, and an utter lack of original ideas. Admittedly, there are some fun cameos from other superhero pets, but even that can’t rescue a series that has much more bark than bite. The fact that Krypto spends more time fighting super-fleas than super-villains doesn’t help his case, either. It feels like a dumbed-down Justice League, and not a very good one at that. But, hey, at least the theme song is super catchy.
#18: “Iron Man” (1994-96)
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Tony Stark has an arsenal of metal suits, cheeky quips, and great storylines at his disposal. But, bafflingly, the first season of this namesake cartoon is almost entirely original material. The new ideas could have worked if only they hadn’t defaulted to a painfully generic good-vs.-evil setup. Almost every episode is just the Mandarin trying to steal Tony’s tech, they fight, and the good guys win. Rinse and repeat. The flat writing and flatter animation prevented the story and characters from developing into anything meaningful. A change in studios led to a much improved second season, but by then, sagging ratings had grounded Iron Man for good.
#17: “Kung Fu Dino Posse” (2010-11)
This title basically tells you everything you need to know. Apparently, it’s all the writers knew, too, since the entire series is a revolving door of the same tired jokes and cliche plot points. There’s some novelty in the concept of dinosaurs who know martial arts, but even that gets stale because of the show’s unwillingness to do anything new. Or, really, do anything original at all. It feels like the series was pitched on its name alone, and never had any clear direction or identity beyond that. The result is thin characters, thinner stories, and a resounding feeling that these dinos were better left fossilized.
#16: “Spider-Woman” (1979-80)
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On paper, Jessica Drew’s deep personal struggles and supernatural leanings could easily web up a classic animated series. But, we didn’t get that. Instead, in slinging from page to screen, Spider-Woman turned into an overly sunny show that buried its comic roots with saccharine plotlines and goofy one-liners. While it’s inoffensive enough to the uninitiated, it's clear lack of respect for the source material makes it difficult to revisit. The show also suffers from its strict adherence to the age-old formula, even when it’s completely out of place for the character. Not that it’s surprising when the show is pretty much Spider-Woman in name only.
#15: “ThunderCats Roar” (2020)
Saving the day has never been this easy. Although, that’s mainly due to the complete absence of stakes or drama. Yeah, this ill-conceived reboot doesn’t even try to replicate the action-packed storytelling that made the original popular. Instead, it doubles-down on eye-rolling jokes and musical numbers. It’s practically unrecognizable from the rest of the franchise, and not in a good way. At a fundamental level, this revival fails since it doesn’t live up to its predecessors or successfully forge its own path. It makes the show’ name ironic, since the only thing “ThunderCats Roar” did was ensure the brand went out with a whimper.
#14: “Wild C.A.T.s” (1994-95)
In an attempt to seem like an edgy, rock-and-roll type show, this wannabe superhero program only comes across as trying way too hard. Its rough-and-tumble aesthetic coughs up a furball thanks to the incredibly lame action and flat voice acting. The so-called spunk it's clearly trying to emulate turns into awkward storylines that fail to capture any feeling other than boredom. “Wild C.A.T.s” has potential, but it's too self-indulgent to be fun, and too stilted to achieve any pathos, either. The unfortunate outcome is a series that’s not just the runt of the litter, but one that just belongs in the litter box, full stop.
#13: “Super President” (1967-68)
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Democracy must be dead if this is what the people are electing to office. Given the political climate in which it aired, the story of a President who could become bulletproof was pretty tasteless. That’s not even touching upon the obvious propaganda at play, either. Even ignoring all of its glaring conceptual flaws, the show was really just a lame Batman clone. You know, if Batman didn’t have any discernible motive or characterization. The secret lair, silly suit, and attempts at serious overtones completely missed the point of the Dark Knight, or really superheroes in general. It’s a mercy that this President resigned from office halfway through his second term.
#12: “Mega Babies” (1999-2000)
There’s a good reason children aren’t supposed to be left unattended. Doubly so if they have superpowers. As you can probably expect, this trio of heroes-to-be are immature, annoying, and more dangerous to themselves than villains. Their powers include things like fart bombs - and no, it doesn’t get any more creative than that. The show also suffers from a serious identity crisis, with its light-hearted billing frequently at odds with the excessive potty humor. Even if it were narratively sound, it would be hard to recommend simply because it's just plain gross to look at most of the time.
#11: “Supernoobs” (2015-19)
It’s clear there’s a lot of love for superhero stories baked into the DNA of this goofy cartoon. Unfortunately, in its attempts to imitate the greats, it falls into pitfall after pitfall of cliches. The stale nerd-turned-hero setup and all-too-familiar plot beats mean that “Supernoobs” fails to add anything to the overly crowded genre. Without anything to call its own, there’s nothing to hide the fact that the actual story is just a boring version of something we’ve seen a hundred times before. Except, this go around, it’s with unlikable characters and obvious jokes. The only thing super about this show is how super lame it is.
#10: “The Powerpuff Girls” (2016-19)
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Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are made of sugar, spice and everything nice. It was a winning recipe for the original show, but this revival decided to add a heaping dose of that last ingredient. Without a dash of action or sprinkle of tension, the 2016 series ended up as an undercooked, excessively sweet dish that no one could stomach. The clear misunderstanding of the brand makes it obvious that neither the creator or original cast were consulted for the new version. But, even worse than all that, it commits the cardinal sin of reboots by failing to justify its own existence for both new or old fans.
#9: “Fred and Barney Meet the Thing” (1979)
The name of this is completely false advertising, since the only time the characters actually interact is in the opening credits. Seriously. This quote-unquote crossover was just a marketing ploy that stitched half-episodes of “The New Fred and Barney Show” and “The Thing” into the same half-hour slot. They’re not even particularly good episodes of their shows, either. Barney and Fred are too dopey to carry a show alone, and the Thing was heavily neutered and given a cringey catchphrase. It’s a shame that there was never an official meeting, since a crossover that bizarre could’ve totally saved these shows from fading into obscurity.
#8: “Spider-Man Unlimited” (1999-2001)
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With great power must also come great responsibility, but there’s nothing responsible about this troubled production. Due to overlap with the upcoming 2002 live-action film, this series was forbidden from using the classic Spider-Man suit or any of the early comic storylines. So, perplexingly, the creators designed a new outfit and stranded Peter on the parallel Counter-Earth. It’s not a bad idea, but without the original characters there for comparison, the novelty of variants failed to strike a superhero landing. It took three whole years to air just thirteen episodes, so even if the quality was there, the haphazard scheduling guaranteed Spidey would never web up an audience.
#7: “The Super Globetrotters” (1979)
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Hearing that these guys tried their hand at heroics sounds like a bad joke. Alas, there’s absolutely nothing funny about their stint as Spaghetti Man, Liquid Man, and more. In fact, there’s something deeply weird about transforming in a magical locker, getting missions from a basketball-shaped satellite, and then beating a villain by dunking on them. It would easily pass as a farce, but since it tries to play it straight, the show ends up falling flat on its face before it even makes it to the free-throw line.
#6: “UltraForce” (1994-95)
Not even this show’s problems are original. It’s just a bunch of Z-list heroes against some Z-List villains in storylines that are copy-pasted from better series. Naturally, all those Z’s end up doing is putting us to sleep. The wooden acting robs the characters of any personality, which renders the already-boring action scenes practically unwatchable. There’s just nothing to connect with on screen, narratively or thematically. It’s a hollow experience that barely tries to hide how much of a ripoff it is. When flashy heroes beating up villains seems dull, you know you’ve done something horribly wrong.
#5: “Teen Titans Go!” (2013-)
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There’s clearly no heroes in Hollywood, because it’s downright criminal that this show has over 350 episodes. Decades of stellar animated programs have proven that being engaging and being kid-friendly aren’t mutually exclusive. “Teen Titans Go!” forgets all of that, though, and lazily devolves to the lowest common denominator of humor. The show leans on a colorful aesthetic to hide the fact that its characters are cringey parodies of their former selves. On its own, this show is embarrassingly off-brand and out-of-character, but it’s especially offensive as the follow-up to the acclaimed 2003 series. That show pushed the limits of what a so-called children’s cartoon could be, and to see it reduced to this is simply tragic.
#4: “The Avengers: United They Stand” (1999-2000)
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Despite its name, the lineup here is missing quite a few important characters. Namely, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, who are reduced to guest roles and cameos. Which, of course, begs the question: without Marvel’s big three, why even bother doing an Avengers show at all? “United They Stand” failed to answer that question, and instead tried to dazzle audiences with a grittier aesthetic akin to “Batman Beyond.” But, the attempts at replicating that show’s dark atmosphere only removed the best parts of the Marvel property. The serious clash of intent makes the show feel like a disjointed, tonally-confused mess. In the end, this just seems like a show made to justify a toyline, not the other way around.
#3: “The New Fantastic Four” (1978)
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After this, we wouldn’t blame Sue Storm if she went invisible with shame. This isn’t just cringey, or a missed opportunity, it’s plain bad. Not even in a fun way, either – it’s bad-bad. Marvel’s First Family are portrayed as some of the most incompetent, thick-headed heroes ever to grace the screen. Although, to be fair, the entire Fantastic Four isn’t even here. Due to licensing issues, Human Torch was replaced with the robotic H.E.R.B.I.E.. No, he isn’t funny, and no, he doesn’t hold a torch to the original - literally. It’s not just that this foursome failed to live up to their moniker, they didn’t even come close.
#2: “Swamp Thing” (1990-91)
It seems the creatives behind this show took the lead character’s name a bit too literally, and decided to add in muddied plot points and morals. The heavy-handed environmentalist themes make it feel like an after-school special that was packaged as a superhero program at the last minute. Swamp Thing is more goofy than menacing here, but the complete disregard for comic accuracy isn’t its biggest issue, either. For a show so gung-ho about the environment, it’s maddening that its commentary never goes beyond “pollution bad, nature good.” The lack of nuance, entertainment, or wit means that even at a scant five episodes, this show well overstays its welcome.
#1: “The Marvel Super Heroes” (1966)
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At first glance, this animated show’s comic book art style implies that the source material was treated with the respect it deserves. In actuality, calling this animation at all is a bigger stretch than Reed Richards could pull off. They ripped comic book panels straight from the page, added some mouth flaps, and turned in one of the laziest television programs ever produced. The show was split into seven minute segments following a single hero, which caused a breakneck pace that made it impossible to invest in the characters or story. Even though it’s literally ripped from comic pages, it lacks any of its source material’s heart. But that’s what happens when you make a cartoon that’s nothing more than a glorified slideshow.
