One might think that there were a few dark superhero shows in the past, but in the recent past, there have been a few hero-centric shows that have gone truly dark since they’ve taken on subjects and characters that were beyond the pale and the action and intensity of various scenes have been increased to a level that might have been enough to get these shows bumped from their schedules back in the day. Some people would probably love to see the superhero shows go back to the days of Dean Clark and Teri Hatcher as Superman and Lois Lane, or the original Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward. But that ship has most definitely sailed since the darker things have become throughout the years in terms of the comics, the darker the shows have become as well. While they don’t always follow the comic book series they’re attached to, some of these shows have gone off and become much more interesting than they were on the page, while others are just about as good, but might need to really dig into the source material a little more to really get the feel of it. The upside is that with a darker lean, a lot of the superhero shows have definitely been becoming more interesting.
Sometimes the good and happy heroes are a little overrated.
5. Preacher
A preacher with a criminal past and who has a vampire as a best friend isn’t bound to be thought of as a man of God most likely, but the power that he has at his disposal and the adventures he goes on make it pretty clear that this isn’t a Sunday school show. Between the different characters and the content of this show, it becomes obvious almost right away that there’s something dark here, and the fact that it has a basis in religion was only bound to make even darker since like it or not, any hero that deals with religion is going to walk on the dark side at one point or another simply as a rule.
4. Watchmen
It doesn’t get quite as brutal as the movie, well, depending on your point of view, but it’s still not something that one would compare with the Teen Titans over on Cartoon Network. The Watchmen wasn’t exactly ya group of heroes that was made to be nice and happy since they deal with the very real issues of society in a very dysfunctional manner. But seeing how they deal with each other as well as with criminals makes it even easier to think that they’re not what anyone would call ‘well-adjusted’ since they’re superheroes with very human issues that don’t always come off as the most stable individuals.
3. Gotham
This is actually more like it when one is talking about the Batman origin story since this doesn’t go straight to Bruce training to be a vigilante while pretending to be a billionaire playboy. This has him dealing with the trauma and the issues that come from being an orphan and wanting to learn how the world works and what he can do to affect or change it. Along the way, several villains are introduced, taken out, and in some cases introduced again since that’s just how the comics work sometimes. But the gist of it is that this is the Batman story before the Batman shows up, and it gets plenty dark.
2. The Punisher
To be fair, this is how the Punisher should be since Frank Castle has never been a reserved individual when it comes to the hero game. He might not even think of himself as a hero since what he does isn’t all that accepted within society, but it does manage to keep people just a little safer since a lot of the guys he deals with don’t end up coming back to harass people again. But as he moves up the food chain so to speak things get more and more dangerous and they get bloodier since Frank isn’t the kind of guy that stops until he’s dead and that means that anyone in his path had better kill him or they won’t last long
1. The Boys
It’s almost as though the superhero shows were playing a game of ‘can you top this’ and The Boys broke the dial when they tried to ramp it up past 11. Seriously, it’s a show for those that really don’t like superheroes since the ‘heroes’ are bought and paid for and are more or less addicted to their powers in a very big way. But the people that should be the good guys are those that society doesn’t really care for it appears, but they’re out to eradicate the heroes. It’s definitely a topsy-turvey show that people weren’t really expecting.
When superhero shows get dark they get a little more realistic.
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