10 Superhero TV Shows That Completely Missed The Mark
Powers was nothing to Marvel at...
Almost every other film released nowadays is a superhero movie. Whilst, superhero films of the past often failed to meet expectations due to questionable CGI and storytelling, the modern era of the superhero film has seen an unparalleled success rate with new films churned out each year rarely missing the mark. The Fantastic Four reboot was certainly an unwelcome reminder of how it can still sometimes go wrong.
However, this is the age of television, in which silver screen success is increasingly brushed aside in favour of streaming services promoting an unyielding wave of quality TV series…and the superhero genre has certainly not missed out.
The likes of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Marvel Agents of Shield have finally brought legitimacy and quality to a genre of TV that has often resided in the annuls of embarrassing television. Early Spiderman series are unwillingly funnier than any comedy produced today.
But, even though it may seem that Marvel, DC and co. are, like Superman, too overpowered to fail, some still don’t quite get it right. To be honest, anything before 2000 can’t be considered a misfire but inherently a leotard and cape–clad turkey.
Alas, there is nothing super about this list.
10. Iron Fist (2017-2018)
Marvel’s Iron Fist suffers the fate of many doomed heroes in that he just doesn’t size up to his caped colleagues.
An Iron Fist film had actually been in development since 2000, with the character suffering several failed attempts at a big screen reincarnation. Eventually, the martial arts master was announced as part of Marvels’ exciting quadrant of TV releases that included Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Daredevil. The series would go on to contribute to the crossover miniseries The Defenders.
However, like a drunk, out of control Superman plummeting aimlessly towards Earth, this series seemed dead on arrival. Criticised by a large section of fans for not casting an Asian American as Iron Fist, the show then preceded to meander through two inconsequential seasons before being cancelled, against Marvel’s wishes.
A lack of momentum and one-dimensional characters led to Iron Fist failing to meet the standards set by his fellow Defenders.