15 gritty superhero movies and TV shows that are actually worth watching

Before there was the MCU, and before Disney had subsumed most things Marvel (and eventually to some degree all things Marvel), for TV shows based on Marvel superheroes you had to turn to Netflix. Decidedly darker (and better) than the Ben Affleck movie, Charlie Cox starred as The Man Without Fear for three violent seasons on the streamer before Disney came around.

With all due respect to “Luke Cage,” and with no respect to “Iron Fist” or “The Defenders,” the other Netflix Marvel series largely worth its salt was Jessica Jones. While it could quite hit “Daredevil” levels either, it did have Krysten Ritter for the lead role, and that went a long way. Unfortunately, the main villain was some sort of magic-talking guy, and that didn’t really go with the gritty realism.

We do not have “The Batman” on this list because, while gritty, it is not effective. Paul Dano as a serial-killing Riddler wrapping himself in duct tape and live-streaming murders is eye-roll inducing. However, from that film we did get the crime drama “The Penguin.” While it does feature Colin Farrell in a ton of makeup and prosthetics, it doesn’t have anything as inane as the Riddler or the Joker of this Batman’s universe.

The 2016 film “Suicide Squad” is sort of make-pretend gritty, which could have worked fine. Sometimes Marvel movies will play at grittiness in a PG-13 way that can work. That movie fails for other reasons. James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” isn’t faking the grit. It’s a violent and vulgar film focused on DC’s antihero superheroes that manages to make the tone work. While Gunn was best known for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies at the time, his “Suicide Squad” harkened back to his previous work, which in some instances make “Suicide Squad” tame.

From “The Suicide Squad” we got “Peacemaker.” The title character was a new addition not ported over from the earlier movie. Played by John Cena, Peacemaker is something of a fascist Captain America, though for his TV show he got to be fleshed out some. While darkly comic, “Peacemaker” is a strong showcase for Cena’s acting skills, and a spinoff that proved worth it.

Among Amazon Prime originals, “The Boys” may be the most commercially successful. It probably is other than shows like “Bosch” that crush with the middle-aged-and-older set. “The Boys” takes place in a world where the superpowered are selfish and amoral but have the marketing power to be positioned as heroes. This leaves a group of vigilantes to fight back against the “Supes.” A fifth and final season will air in 2026, and there have been two spinoffs as well.

This is the HBO TV show, not the Zack Snyder movie, because Zack Snyder is hitting below the Mendoza Line from a quality perspective. The show, created by Damon Lindelof, is a reimagining of the world of the Alan Moore series. Crafted as a nine-episode limited series, this was most smart from a storytelling perspective and an award perspective. “Watchmen” took home 11 Emmys.

Live-action Harley Quinn performances by Margot Robbie are abundant, but Harley also exists in animated form. HBO Max’s raunchy cartoon features Kaley Cuoco as the voice of Harley. While the show lost quite a bit of steam after a strong first season, it’s the kind of show where some good, hard jokes can be found in basically every episode.

Seth Meyers was the head writer of “Saturday Night Live” and has been hosting a late-night show for years. And yet, he also had time to co-create and co-star in an animated show for Hulu. “The Awesomes” is about some lesser superheroes who have to step in as members of a legendary team of heroes after the originals all step aside. While Meyers is known for sharp political humor, “The Awesomes” allowed him to spread his wings by being raunchy and silly.

Most of the superhero movies from Marvel and DC that promise grittiness fall short. “Logan” does not. In terms of movies about superheroes, it could very well be the best. Having James Mangold as director helps. “Logan” sees an aging Wolverine begrudgingly doing one last noble thing after falling on hard times.

British comic book “Judge Dredd” was first turned into a silly Sylvester Stallone movie. “Dredd” stars Karl Urban, but it is not a Karl Urban vehicle by any means. Also, it doesn’t pull punches. The movie has a smart premise. Dredd and his rookie partner have to reach their target, a notorious drug lord, who happens to be at the top of a heavily-fortified 200-story skyscraper. As they go from floor to floor, the violence and gore only escalates.

On the strength of “Evil Dead II,” Sam Raimi got a chance to make a major studio movie. He wanted to make a movie about The Shadow, but the rights weren’t available so he created his own character, Darkman, influenced in part by Universal monster movies of the 1930s. Raimi wanted to cast his best buddy Bruce Campbell in the lead role, but wiser heads (including Campbell) prevailed, and Liam Neeson got the role. After being violently attacked and left for dead, Peyton Westlake is reconstructed, gets super strength in the process, and also becomes deranged and obsessed with vengeance. An anti-hero’s anti-hero.

We weren’t thinking of Robocop as a superhero story, but we kept seeing this film popping up when researching gritty superhero movies. Well, Murphy is heroic, and he’s pretty super, so fair enough. Plus, Paul Verhoeven’s movie is a seminal ‘80s action movie. It’s over-the-top and hyperviolent but a lot of fun. Plus it got two sequels and a remake. Also, somehow, a children’s cartoon.

By and large Batman movies don’t fit here because they either aren’t gritty or aren’t good. Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” is closest to threading the needle. We’re sure on the good element of it. The gritty? Well, Penguin lives in the sewer, chows down on raw fish, and bites a guy’s nose off. Selina Kyle is killed and then comes back to life and throws on a leather outfit and wields a whip as Catwoman. “Batman Returns” is close enough, and this way we can at least get one Batman movie on this list.

Bookends! Though Disney has bought up Marvel, it has started to concede some space for grittier fare on Disney+. “Daredevil: Born Again” is a huge move on that front. Cox returns as Daredevil. Vincent D’Onofrio returns as Wilson Fisk. It’s the rare TV-MA show on Disney+, and that was part of the marketing push. The violence and language is befitting the Netflix original, and the quality hasn’t dipped. Mickey Mouse can’t stop Daredevil from dishing out the violence.