Superheroes on TV: Here’s a List of Every DC Show You’ll Find on Television Today
Like superheroes? Then turn on your TV. With 17 superhero-starring shows currently airing, you have an 86% chance to happen across some spandexed awesomeness in the form of TV superheroes. (Don’t check that math, and head over here to see our roundup of every Marvel show!)
Here’s a list of every DC superhero show currently gracing the airwaves, including wireless streaming.
1. Arrow
Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is thought to be lost at sea for five years. In truth, he’s been trapped on an island learning survival skills and gaining mastery of the bow, plus he gets additional training from secret government black ops agencies and various criminal undergrounds. He returns to Starling City (renamed Star City) to clean up corruption and fight crime as “The Hood,” then “The Arrow” and finally “The Green Arrow.”
As this DC superhero show progressed through the seasons, so did his mission and his rotating team of support staff and fellow superheroes, including three different Black Canaries, Spartan, Arsenal, Speedy, Overwatch, Mr. Terrific, Ragman and Wild Dog.
2. The Flash
A freak particle accelerator accident bathes Central City with radiation, giving various individuals exotic superpowers. Apparently the only one (at first) who isn’t a jerk is Barry Allen, who gains super-speed and takes it upon himself to stop other, villainous meta-humans.
Like Green Arrow, The Flash surrounds himself with a team of experts and other good meta-humans like Vibe, Jesse Quick, Kid Flash, Killer Frost and the Elongated Man (yep).
3. Supergirl
Teenaged Kara Zor-El was sent in an escape pod from Krypton the same time as her baby cousin, Kal El (Superman, duh), but due to damage to her pod, her arrival on earth is delayed until after Kal-El has already grown into Superman. After years of hiding her powers, she has adopted the identity of Supergirl and joins her adoptive sister at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO) to protect the Earth from alien threats.
This series is a bit more focused on relationships than super-action, unlike her male TV counterparts. She does still manage to gather her own gallery of fellow heroes, including J’onn J’onzz (The Martian Manhunter), Mon-El and the Legion of Superheroes.
4. Legends of Tomorrow
This DC superhero show features a rotating cast of heroes and villains from across the shared DC Television Universe (called the Arrowverse or Flarrowverse). Their mission is to travel through time fixing temporal anomalies and combating time-traveling super-villains.
Initially the team consisted of Rip Hunter, The Atom, White Canary (formerly the first Black Canary from Arrow), Firestorm, Heatwave, Captain Cold (all three from The Flash), Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Eventually, through various adventures, Vixen, Steel and Isis join the Legends.
5. Black Lightning
While this program is on The CW, Mark Pedowitz (CW President) told Entertainment Weekly that Black Lightning does not take place in the shared Arrowverse. The show follows Jefferson Pierce, a high school principal, husband and father of two teenage girls … and retired superhero. The rise of a local gang called “The 100” results in increased crime and corruption in the community of Freeland, forcing Jefferson to return to the streets as the electricity wielding Black Lightning.
6. Gotham
Another DC superhero show also not taking place in the Arrowverse is this the grim and gritty retelling of the formative days of Bruce Wayne, James Gordon, Selina Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot, Ed Nigma and the rest of the heroic, anti-heroic and downright villainous citizens of a pre-Batman Gotham City. In my humble opinion, it’s the best of all the shows listed.
If you want a better look of what to expect for the rest of the current season, I refer you to this article penned recently by an extremely talented and handsome writer (wink).
Coming Up:
In the vein of Gotham, Syfy will be offering Krypton, telling the story of Superman’s grandfather on the still-intact planet of the same name, and it looks to be a science-fiction/political thriller. Krypton will be premiering March 21 on Syfy.
Also coming later in 2018 is Titans, based on the Teen Titans/Titans characters, and it will air on an unnamed DC Comics digital service. So far all we know is that the characters of Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy will appear, along with fan-favorite team The Doom Patrol. But the real clickbait about Titans is seeing promotional images of Brenton Thwaites as Robin, and Alan Ritchson (swoon) and Minka Kelly as Hawk and Dove in their comic book-loyal costumes.
