10 Best Marvel Animated Shows Ever Made, Ranked

At this point, Marvel has ruled box office and viewing figures for so long that it's almost reductive to call the Marvel Cinematic Universe popular. As multimedia franchises go, it pretty much defines popularity. Even when the MCU turns in low-grossing movies, on the whole it's hardly a cinematic universe that failed miserably. 

However, if there's one corner of Marvel adaptations that tends to be overlooked, its animation. Marvel's live-action properties get the bulk of attention, but for a long time, animated shows both within and outside the MCU have done plenty of heavy lifting to keep the company's heroes in the public minds. As great as the best Marvel live-action shows have been, there are many amazing animated Marvel superhero series that deserve just as much attention. Let's take a look at 10 of the greatest Marvel animated shows ever made, based on their IMDb scores.

• Creator: A.C. Bradley
• Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Atwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Mick Wingert, Sebastian Stan
• Number of episodes: 26
• Where to watch: Disney+

It's telling of the sheer quality of animated Marvel shows out there that one of the most prominent Marvel Cinematic Universe animations barely cracks the Top 10. This doesn't mean that "What If...?" is a bad show by any stretch. On the contrary, it's a treasure trove of imaginative scenarios that feature some of the best known MCU characters. Well, to be completely honest, pretty much every well-known MCU character.

Curated and narrated by the all-seeing The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), "What If...?" tells a series of seemingly unrelated alternate timeline stories that eventually become very much connected, courtesy of the MCU's multiversal nature. Because the format allows the stories to get wildly imaginative, you can expect to see some seriously ambitious takes on various familiar characters. Here, you find a universe where Captain America's super soldier serum goes to Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) instead, and one where T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes Star-Lord instead of taking the Black Panther mantle. Perhaps the bloodiest of all these episodes — Season 1, Episode 5, titled "What If... Zombies?!" — even led to a spin-off that's easily the goriest Marvel project yet, "Marvel Zombies."

"What If...?" isn't a show that you want to start your MCU excursion with. However, if you're familiar with the many MCU films it constantly references, it's a nice remix of key events that balances comedy and tragedy in surprisingly deft fashion.

• Showrunners: Steve Loter, Pilar Flynn
• Cast: Diamond White, Fred Tatasciore, Alfre Woodard, Sasheer Zamata
• Number of episodes: 41
• Where to watch: Disney+

"Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" is a charming, offbeat comedy-drama about a 13-year-old genius called Lunella "Moon Girl" Lafayette (Diamond White) and her sidekick, Devil Dinosaur (Fred Tatasciore), who's a very real Tyrannosaurus rex. Together, they fight crime. Well, they do quite a bit more than that, from multiversal adventures to facing a dangerous science group known as The Enclave.

The show's approach is more cartoonish than many other Marvel shows on this list go for, but the stylistic choice works entirely in the show's favor. "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" oozes charm and isn't afraid to take big swings by featuring some of the heaviest hitters Marvel has to offer. From the Beyonder (Laurence Fishburne) to Molecule Man (Edward James Olmos), there's no telling what sort of powerhouses the show will roll out in any given episode. Gloriously, however, "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" doesn't go too far with its massively powerful villains. Instead, it often prefers a smaller scale with personal-level stakes and antagonists such as Daveed Diggs' Rat King. 

The show might not seem like the most obvious member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also really doesn't really care about muddying the waters. As such, expect to see the occasional familiar MCU face, such as Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, Laurence Fishburne's Bill Foster, and Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill. Unfortunately, "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" was canceled in 2025, but the show's two seasons remain highly entertaining. 

• Creators: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
• Cast: Ally Maki, Olivia Munn, Nobi Nakanishi, Fred Tataskiore, George Takei, Jason Sudeikis
• Number of episodes: 20
• Where to watch: Hulu

Hulu's "Hit-Monkey" is without doubt the most offbeat entry on this list, and it's entirely a good thing. It's a decidedly adult-themed animation that provides exactly what it says on the label. 

Our main character is Monkey, a talented assassin who fights against the criminal underbelly. Monkey starts out as a smart, if somewhat aggressive, Japanese macaque. A human assassin called Bryce Fowler (Jason Sudeikis) takes him under his wing, and after Bryce and his monkey tribe get killed, Monkey takes it upon himself to avenge them all. Oh, and Bryce's ghost is hanging out with Monkey. It's that kind of show.

Violent, absurd, and darkly funny, "Hit-Monkey" isn't your grandfather's Marvel show. In fact, despite regular appearances by various comparatively obscure Marvel characters such as Lady Bullseye II (Olivia Munn) and Fat Cobra (Noshir Dalal), it's often hard to picture it as a Marvel show at all, given its tone and Japanese-influenced animation style. "Hit-Monkey" might not be everyone's piece of cake, but if you like your superhero stories with a generous helping of weirdness, the show will not disappoint.

• Creators: Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir, David Wise
• Cast: Meghan Black, Neil Denis, David Kaye, Scott McNeil, Kirby Morrow
• Number of episodes: 52
• Where to watch: Disney+

Fair warning before we continue: The rest of the list is going to feature a whole bunch of X-Men stories. Our first venture into the world of Marvel's favorite mutant super-team comes in the form of "X-Men: Evolution," which ran from 2000 to 2023. The untold story of "X-Men: Evolution" is a peculiar one, as the show draws inspiration from pretty much all eras of the mutants' story at that point, but portrays the usually adult team members as teens. However, unlike the very first iteration of the X-Men in the comics, Charles Xavier (David Kaye) isn't the only adult supervising and training the gifted youngsters. He's joined by two other grown-ups, Storm (Kirsten Williamson) and Wolverine (Scott McNeil), who act as teachers and trainers. 

The team's makeup features a healthy mix of classic X-Men members like Rogue (Meghan Black), Kitty Pryde (Maggie Blue O'Hara), and Nightcrawler (Brad Swaile), with Storm's young nephew Spyke (Neil Denis) thrown in for good measure. "X-Men: Evolution" is also notable for introducing the now-iconic Wolverine clone X-23 (Andrea Libman and Brittney Irvin), known as Laura Kinney in the comics. Fans might also know her as Laura (Dafne Keen), the little girl from "Logan."

With its stylized art and clever character designs, "X-Men: Evolution" is an interesting and occasionally offbeat reimagining of the source material. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a solid superhero show.

• Creators: Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson
• Cast: Steve Blum, Kieren van den Blink, Susan Dalian, Jennifer Hale
• Number of episodes: 26
• Where to watch: Disney+

Perennial X-Men breakout character Wolverine (Steve Blum) is front and center on "Wolverine and the X-Men," the 2009 Nicktoons animated series. Here, the X-Men have effectively disbanded, and it's up to Wolverine to put the gang back together to handle an impending threat. 

While "Wolverine and the X-Men" knows who its star quarterback is, its premise allows the show to explore some interesting sides of the various characters. For instance, Wolverine being the leader and Cyclops (Nolan North) acting as a tormented supporting character is a fun reversal of their usual chemistry, and bringing Emma Frost (Kari Wahlgren) In the mix as the resident telepath adds a new layer to the team's usual chemistry.

"Wolverine and the X-Men" is a short-lived show that only ran for a single season, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it attempted to do some new things with the source material, and succeeded surprisingly well. There's not a lot of it to watch, so fans who are looking for a long-term investment might want to search elsewhere. However, if you're on the market for a solid and imaginative X-Men adaptation, make sure to check out the best episodes of "Wolverine and the X-Men."

• Creators: Ciro Nieli, Joshua Fine, Christopher Yost 
• Cast: Brian Bloom, Chris Cox, Jennifer Hale, Peter Jessop, Phil LaMarr
• Number of episodes: 52
• Where to watch: Disney+

It took a hot minute for the Avengers to get a worthy superhero show for themselves, but "The Avengers: World's Mightiest Heroes" fixed this in 2010. The show deftly balances character-specific episodes with team ones, introducing a steady stream of threats and challenges for the heroes to overcome. 

Expect the Avengers to fight numerous dangers lifted straight out of the printed page. An amazing array of heroes, villains, and important supporting characters from the comics make appearances at regular intervals. In other words, for any fan of classic Avengers stories, the show is a non-stop fireworks display of comic book goodness.

"The Avengers: World's Mightiest Heroes" doesn't really attempt to reinvent the wheel, or reimagine its characters with wildly new context. It simply delivers a very solid adaptation of the Avengers and the many challenges and enemies they face, which is all it needs to be great.

• Creators: Victor Cook, Greg Weisman
• Cast: Josh Keaton, Lacey Chabert, James Arnold Taylor, Daran Norris, Vanessa Marshall
• Number of episodes: 26
• Where to watch: Available for purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV

It's probably fair to say that no single Marvel superhero has as many TV and movie adaptations bearing their name as Spider-Man. Two of the webslinger's best animated series feature on this list, with "The Spectacular Spider-Man" barely missing the top three. 

The two-season series that started and finished its run in 2009 centers around a Spider-Man (Josh Keaton) who's in the middle of his high school years while moonlighting as a superhero. The school theme is heavily present throughout the show, and the show's various three-episode arcs are named according to it — think "Economics 101," "Biology 101," and the like.

Despite focusing on a young Spider-Man, the show is notable for tackling heavy themes throughout its run. It's also one of the most gorgeously animated shows on this list, and all of its aspects from writing to voice acting are solid throughout. Though the show was canceled arguably before its time, Keaton's Spider-Man has lived on as a minor character in the "Spider-Verse" animated movies.

• Writer: Josh Semper
• Cast: Christopher Daniel Barnes, Edward Asner, Jennifer Hale, Saratoga Ballantine
• Number of episodes: 65
• Where to watch: Disney+

From "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" (2025) to the lovably clunky "Spider-Man" (1967), there have been a number of web-slinging animated series across the decades — some genuinely good, others nostalgically cheesy. 1994's "Spider-Man," aka "Spider-Man: The Animated Series," represents the absolute cream of the crop. 

The best moments from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" feature everything from cool individual episodes with classic villains to adaptations of huge comic book events, and even a multi-Spidey storyline of the "Spider-Verse" variety. Christopher Daniel Barnes' Spidey is a delight, as is Edward Asner's J. Jonah Jameson. Episode after episode, the series rolled out a laundry list of Spidey's greatest allies and foes, with the character's key love interest Mary Jane Watson (Saratoga Ballantine) and a clever super soldier version of Black Cat (Jennifer Hale) playing prominent roles. With folks like Mark Hamill (as Hobgoblin) and Hank Azaria (as Venom) bringing the threat, there's no shortage of impressive enemies, either.

Audiences absolutely adored "Spider-Man: The Animated Series," which ran for five seasons and remains so popular that in 2025, Marvel announced a limited comic series that continues the story. If the X-Men aren't your thing, there's every possibility that this is your absolute favorite Marvel animated series ever — and for a good reason.

• Creators: Mark Edward Edens, Sidney Iwanter, Eric Lewald
• Cast: Norm Spencer, Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, Iona Morris, Alison Sealy-Smith
• Number of episodes: 76
• Where to watch: Disney+

"Spider-Man: The Animated Series" was huge in the 1990s, but the honor of the best Marvel animated show of the era goes to the mutants. "X-Men: The Animated Series" is a fellow five-season wonder that ran from 1992 to 1997, and features the titular team at its 1990s mightiest. This iteration of the X-Men features a bunch of the team's all-time favorite members, with series original Morph (Ron Rubin) thrown in for good measure. 

The X-Men comics are full of social commentary and massive, high-stakes storylines. "The Animated Series" doesn't shy away from either, instead fully embracing the difficult aspects and ambitious arcs of the source material. Here, you will find mature themes throughout the series — for instance, Magneto's status as a Holocaust survivor receives ample attention. Combine this ethos with one of the catchiest theme songs out there and well-executed adaptations of classic storylines from "Days of Future Past" to "The Phoenix Saga," and you have an all-timer of a superhero show in your hands. 

• Creator: Beau DeMayo
• Cast: Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith, Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann
• Number of episodes: 10
• Where to watch: Disney+

It really is telling of the enduring love "X-Men: The Animated Series" enjoys that the show technically takes the two top spots on this list. "X-Men '97" is both a revival of and direct sequel to the classic Marvel animated show, picking up where the story left off and proceeding to deliver more of the same — only better, and more ambitiously animated. 

The end result is nothing short of amazing. To use Cyclops (Ray Chase) as an example, his impossibly cool introductory scene alone does wonders to lift him from a reputation as a bland second fiddle to Wolverine (Cal Dodd). Other characters fare just as well. Old favorites combine with series newcomers and numerous cameos from friends and foes. "X-Men '97" received overwhelming critical acclaim and fan love, as the series both honored its predecessor and continued to pave the way for the mutant team's impending Marvel Cinematic Universe arrival.

Since "X-Men '97" is an ongoing series, it's obviously hard to say what its entire legacy will be and how it will fare against the other shows on this list when it eventually concludes. Even so, going with the information we have now, it's already more than fair to say that "X-Men '97" would have to drop the ball incredibly hard to lose its status as the best Marvel animated show.