Marvel has dominated the superhero movie realm for nearly 20 years, with the MCU defining a format that many would try to imitate. What began with 2008’s Iron Man expanded into an ever-growing franchise of heroes and crossover events. While the line-up saw new solo outings, including Captain America, Thor, and Black Panther, audiences learned what to expect. The franchise often played into CGI-heavy finales, clear villains, and a family-friendly PG-13 rating, each offering doses of humor. However, the MCU has expanded in recent years, with more mature entries like Deadpool & Wolverine and the Daredevil: Born Again TV series.
DC Comics has offered some darker counterpoints, like Zack Snyder’s tenure in the DCEU and Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and the DCU is currently freshening up much of the comic book heroes slate under Warner Bros. Avengers: Doomsday may infuse the MCU with some darker story elements, but for fans looking to step outside the standardized superhero formula created by Marvel Studios, there are plenty of mature-leaning shows and movies that break the mold in harrowing ways.
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‘Watchmen’ (2009)
Alan Moore’s classic comic book was adapted by Zack Snyder, allowing the grim take on superheroes to bring the author’s ever-relevant commentary to theaters. Watchmen works because it takes archetypal characters fans know, such as Nite Owl serving as a stand-in for Batman, and rips the optimistic superhero myth out of the world. While hero stories generally feature a clear good-versus-evil dynamic, Moore’s complex tale mires its characters in moral ambiguity.
Watchmen also shows its characters suffering real-world consequences for their actions, like Rorschach going to prison, while others can get away with horrific crimes, such as The Comedian. Many of these ideas were explored more deeply in HBO’s single-season Watchmen series, which expanded on the comic rather than offering another direct adaptation. Still, the source material serves as a bleak reminder that even those dubbed heroes can be deeply flawed.
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‘The Boys’ (2019-2026)
The Boys is a violent, subversive story in which the world sees superheroes as celebrities, and performing heroic feats becomes a publicity stunt rather than an altruistic act. The comic book adaptation asks audiences to question what the world would look like if the superheroes were the bad guys. Homelander, who can be seen as a dark version of Superman, presents a stoic, hero-of-the-people demeanor to the public while embracing his true, sociopathic nature behind closed doors.
Going beyond the dark superheroes, the graphic violence and sexual content on display would never be found in a Marvel film, as it pushes the envelope in uniquely horrific ways, like The Deep’s aquatic companionship or the “Herogasm” scene. Yet, The Boys often finds ways to make even their most heinous elements impactful on the story, like Homelander’s disturbing breastfeeding obsession, presenting fans with a worthwhile series that would make Marvel blush.
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‘The Green Hornet’ (2011)
Michael Gondry’s The Green Hornet attempts to break the mold by taking a subversive approach to the masked vigilante story. Rather than painting the hero of the story as a good person, the lead is a selfish, wealthy snob, risking audience appeal. However, this plays well into who The Green Hornet is, and its roots as a radio show and popular TV series. The updated hero’s tale sees the masked vigilante posing as a villain, luring out evildoers with a clever act of subterfuge, offering a distinct way for its hero to fight crime.
The Green Hornet benefits from Gondry’s talent, as it features numerous unique camera techniques that allow the action to play out in distinct ways, like a ripple of the exact moment. While Marvel often has a director leave their mark on a movie, like Sam Raimi’s notable touches on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Green Hornet allows Gondry to blend his auteur sensibilities with the superhero genre in ways the MCU pipeline would never allow. Marvel has even proven it in the past, like when Edgar Wright walked away from Ant-Man.
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‘Super’ (2010)
Before James Gunn was the man at the helm of the DCU, he wrote and directed the subversive superhero film Super. The movie already ventured outside the standard leading man, casting Rainn Wilson for a realistic everyman protagonist. However, when his wife leaves him for a drug dealer, he takes up the mantle of Crimson Bolt.
Super sees the main character dealing with questionable traumatic moments and graphically violent dreams, like Frank’s brain surgery dream that inspires his mission. While Crimson Bolt wants to deliver justice, the movie doesn’t ignore his delusions, pitting his vigilantism against morally gray consequences and sobering violence. Yet, Super is also a dark comedy, playing into the absurdity of what could happen if an average citizen suited up and started fighting crime. Gunn’s early superhero film feels like an even darker, stripped-down version of Kick-Ass.
11
‘The Toxic Avenger’ (2023)
The recent remake of The Toxic Avenger is as far from the Marvel formula as a superhero movie can get. The movie was ready in 2023, when it was delayed for almost two years because it was deemed unreleasable due to its content. Stemming from the notorious Troma, the remake was never intended for general audiences, embracing that concept in every facet of the movie, leaning into its gritty B-movie nature. However, The Toxic Avenger offers biting satire, aiming at corporate greed and profit over people.
The absurd superhero movie pushes boundaries in ways Marvel would never allow, embracing over-the-top violence, such as the titular anti-hero ripping off a character’s beard (skin and all) before it gets shoved down his throat or ripping off another character’s jaw entirely. The Marvel machine would never lean into such heavy B-movie territory, with a franchise-wide aesthetic to uphold, while The Toxic Avenger is a modest production by comparison.
10
‘Invincible’ (2021-Present)
Invincible lures audiences in with a bright aesthetic that would look at home in the pages of any family-friendly superhero comic. Things quickly change, though, when the Superman figure of the world, Omni-Man, turns on the others, plunging the remaining heroes into a deadly fight, including his son, the titular Invincible.
What follows is a blood-soaked series that explores emotionally complex characters who have to grapple with monumental burdens. Invincible shows the real-world consequences of the hero’s actions, focusing on the destruction of cities and the cost of human life, prompting audiences to ponder the bleaker sides of superheroes.
9
‘Brightburn’ (2019)
Gunn rears his head again with another subversive take on well-worn ideas, acting as a producer on Brightburn. The grim super-powered tale takes the Superman origin story and asks: What happens if Superman turns evil? The movie infuses the hero’s story with a healthy dose of Damian from The Omen, embracing the horror genre.
Brightburn ventures well into dark territory that Marvel would never touch, as it sees a child getting violent revenge on bullies and those who begin to impede his true nature. As with any child being reprimanded for their actions, his parents quickly become the biggest hindrance to his descent into evil, posing a bleak family showdown where a mother’s love may not win out.
8
‘Freaks’ (2018)
Freaks feels like a harsher take on the X-Men franchise, embracing darker story elements that fans may find in the comics rather than in Marvel movies. The story takes place in a dystopian society where “Abnormals” are hunted, with the plot focusing on a father who keeps his young daughter sheltered from the grim realities of the world.
Where Freaks excels is in posing psychological horror, showing a young girl confused by the lack of information she’s given, while also tapping into the family’s powers, bringing hardships down on them. The authoritarian society sees them as a blight, rounding up people with superpowers, posing an ever-looming threat rife with commentary on prejudices and injustice.
7
‘The Umbrella Academy’ (2019-2024)
The Umbrella Academy shines through its grim plot thanks to unique family dynamics. The dysfunctional super-powered siblings reunite after their adoptive father’s death, forced to reconcile years of trauma while thwarting potentially world-ending circumstances. As much as an apocalypse sets a terrifying tone for the show, it’s The Umbrella Academy‘s use of dark humor and relatable mental health struggles that allow it to break the mold.
The Umbrella Academy navigates topics like addiction and PTSD, presenting deeply flawed heroes for audiences, who are shown suffering emotional abuse at the hands of their father. Marvel may feature plenty of traumatic events, like the deaths in Avengers: Infinity War. Yet, The Umbrella Academy‘s character-forward storytelling presents its heroes as fully fleshed-out beings who happen to have superpowers rather than established characters in need of stakes. The Umbrella Academy also features gory, stylized violence and even minor character flaws that Marvel would never allow, like a child smoking cigarettes, as Klaus is seen regularly doing.
6
‘Thelma’ (2017)
Thelma is a supernatural Norwegian thriller that feels like an X-Men origin story combined with Stephen King’s Carrie. The movie follows the titular character, who has burgeoning psychokinetic powers. However, her deeply conservative religious background conflicts with her repressed sexuality, sparking horrific results as her powers lash out from emotional frustrations.
The coming-of-age tale features a gay protagonist, utilizing horror themes and unsettling, symbolic imagery to explore a character struggling with a repressed identity and religious trauma. While the external stakes see consequences for Thelma’s powers, the dark superhero origin thrives on internal conflict and haunting allegory. Thelma is a dark, arthouse alternative to formulaic superhero fare.
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