The most notable movies and TV shows about female superheroes

When DC films were struggling, it was not uncommon to hear people say, “But that Wonder Woman movie was good!” And, sure, it was, though we weren’t quite as high on it as others (the main villain reveal was silly and Gal Gadot is a middling actor). However, while the sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” had promise, it did not nail the execution, effectively ending Wonder Woman’s run.

Of course, back in the day, there was the 1970s TV series starring Lynda Carter. “Wonder Woman” was cheesy; it moved networks, and the show's internal logic changed at least a couple of times. That said, it was silly '70s fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. That’s a nice tone to return to from time to time.

There’s no framework for enjoying “Catwoman,” though, aside from ironically. It’s a mess, a flop best remembered for Halle Berry showing up to accept her Razzie. Though it feels like maybe “Catwoman” was going for campy fun, we say “maybe” because, frankly, we have no clue. This film is just too incoherent.

Maybe we were suckers for the ‘90s period piece of it all, but we enjoyed “Captain Marvel.” It did end up making over a billion dollars, but 2019 was the peak of superhero movies, which played a role in that. While Captain Marvel was not, and is not, the most notable Marvel superhero, this was an enjoyable quasi-prequel, and we won’t say a word on “The Marvels.”

Speaking of prequels from Marvel, Scarlett Johansson finally got a lead role as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, but it took long enough that the character was canonically dead in the MCU. “Black Widow,” which got hindered by a certain global pandemic, is a bit of a mixed bag. David Harbour and Florence Pugh are having a ton of fun, but the movie takes itself quite seriously. All in all, though, a worthy outing for Natasha and for Johansson.

“Daredevil,” with Ben Affleck in the lead role, was a minor success at best. They still opted to greenlight a spinoff film in “Elektra,” though. During the brief era when Jennifer Garner was a movie star, she proved ill-suited for the role, though it was unlikely anyone would have salvaged this project. It was, for the time, one of the major superhero flops.

So far it’s been all Marvel and DC, but they aren’t the only creators of superheroes. “Aeon Flux” started life as an artsy animated show on MTV, appearing on “Liquid Television.” Many years later, it got a live-action adaptation starring Charlize Theron. The film was a flop and kind of a mess. You know who agrees with that assessment? Theron, and also Peter Chung, the creator of the animated version.

Of course, there have also been multiple “Powerpuff Girls” TV shows, so we can throw them all together here. Show creator Craig McCracken got a chance to direct a film version, one that did get a theatrical release. If you aren’t familiar, the Powerpuff Girls are creations of Professor Utonium, who becomes their surrogate father. It’s basically built on the humorous juxtaposition of three sweet little girls who are also superhero crime fighters. The film is slight, but it does deliver the show's fun elements in a longer format.

“Tank Girl” was always destined to be a cult film. It’s based on a cult British comic, and it features a bunch of humanoid kangaroos, in addition to Tank Girl and Jet Girl and the like. It’s weird, and it doesn’t all work, but if you head into “Tank Girl” ready for the, you know, “Tank Girl” if it all, it’s an enjoyable experience.

Half this duo is distaff, and so we’ll count it. In the first “Ant-Man” film, Scott Lang is trained in the ways of being Ant-Man by Hank Pym. In this film, Scott is joined by Hope, Hank’s daughter, who takes up the mantle of The Wasp, which had been her mom’s alter-ego. The first couple of “Ant-Man” movies were a lot of fun, breezy and fairly silly, but “Quantumania,” well, it has a few issues going against it. That one does have three female superheroes front and center, though!

“Black Panther” was a massive success, a true game changer. Tragically, though, Chadwick Boseman died before the sequel could be made. So what then? The film decided to focus on T’Challa’s mother and, particularly, his sister, who ends up trying to take up the role of Wakanda’s protector. Given the circumstances, “Wakanda Forever” turned out reasonably well. The circumstances are not just Boseman’s passing, but also the fact that this was from the era of every Marvel project having to set up, like, two movies and five TV shows.

Kamala Khan was a popular addition to Marvel comics in the 2010s, and she’s a teenage character, so of course she was going to be brought into the MCU, which built its success on teenagers. Basically, “Ms. Marvel” is about what would happen if a bubbly teenage girl who loves the Avengers became a superhero in her own right. It would turn out to make for a perfectly fine six-episode series.

Hey, Alex Mack gains telekinesis and the ability to turn into an ambulatory puddle of liquid after an experimental chemical is spilled on her. This may be a Nickelodeon show, made on a Nickelodeon budget, but she was definitely a superhero. Maybe she didn’t fight aliens and stuff, but Alex Mack had superpowers, and she was the well-meaning protagonist of a TV show for four seasons, so let’s consider her in the female superhero canon.

Ahh, remember DC Universe? No, you don’t; nobody does, and nobody ever will. The streaming service was a remarkable misfire, right up there with Yahoo Screen, but it did birth a couple of original shows. One of those was “Stargirl,” a show about a teenage girl who gains the power of Starman. The swift death of DC Universe did not kill “Stargirl,” though, as the show made the wise move to The CW to join DC’s Arrowverse. That bought the show two more seasons.

“The Bionic Woman” was, effectively, the female version of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” though she doesn’t feel the need to brag about how much her bionic parts cost, are we right, ladies? Jaime Sommers’ tale is as old as time. She’s a tennis pro who is gravely injured in a skydiving accident and thus is fitted with bionic parts that allow her to fight crime. And she did just that for three seasons over two networks!

In the early days of Adult Swim, when it was all about repackaging old Hanna-Barbera characters that had been forgotten, Birdman became Harvey Birdman, a lawyer. “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law” remains the best Adult Swim show. In the third season Birdgirl got in the mix, though her appearances were sporadic (but funny). Maybe years later, Birdgirl became the center of another Adult Swim show, though this one lacked Hanna-Barbera characters. “Birdgirl” did the absurdist humor thing for 12 episodes before calling it quits.

It’s one of the best TV show names of the 2020s, if nothing else. As a Disney Channel show, “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” was aimed at a younger audience. The cartoon, well, it’s about a 13-year-old who has a secret identity as the superhero Moon Girl, and she hangs out with a red Tyrannosaurus Rex she calls Devil Dinosaur. It ran for two seasons, and it was well-received, and not just for the delightful title.

James Gunn hopped over to DC and got the films off to a strong start with “Superman,” but now comes the task of building out yet another cinematic universe. Supergirl got the chance to step up front and center, though Gunn did not step behind the camera. The character in this world is supposed to be a lot, but the film is also a lot, and not necessarily in a good way. If it hits, though, the DC machine will keep on humming.