5 Amazing Superhero TV Origin Stories That Had Us Hooked (& 2 Aren’t Even Based On Comics)

The superhero genre has given us many iconic stories and characters over the years. Whether it be Bruce Wayne’s parents being robbed, the Kryptonian baby Kal-El’s arrival on Earth, or a radioactive spider bite, origin stories have become a key part of any hero’s journey. Establishing what drives a character to become a hero, as well as explaining where their powers come from and how they honed their skills, are essential parts of any superhero origin story. The best superhero movies and TV shows understand this, and strive to give us interesting, relatable, and memorable looks at why our favorite heroes have grown to be the force for good we know them to be.

While big-screen superhero stories have become increasingly successful in recent years, there’s always a good argument for TV’s episodic format being better suited to adapting comic book characters. There have been many great superhero TV shows over the years, and many of them have also served as origin stories for the characters in question. Some of the best superhero shows deliver origin stories that are truly gripping, leaving us absolutely hooked on their protagonist’s story.

5) Smallville

There have been a handful of superhero TV shows that changed the genre, and Smallville is undoubtedly one of them. Beginning in 2001, Smallville’s ten-season story chronicled the younger years of Clark Kent, leading up to his eventual emergence as the iconic hero Superman. Over the course of its run, Smallville gave us iterations of many DC characters, including different heroes, villains, and supporting figures that made its world feel incredibly fleshed-out and its origin story comprehensive.

What hooked viewers was Smallville‘s original approach to Superman’s story. It explored Clark as a character slowly coming to understand his abilities and his Kryptonian heritage, while also exploring all the teen drama of a seemingly average American adolescent. Smallville never tried to be a direct adaptation of the comics, but rather an exploration of Superman as a character, serving as one long and meticulously told origin story that remains one of the most popular iterations of the iconic hero.

4) Daredevil

Often cited as one of the best Marvel TV shows of all time, Daredevil brought the eponymous Man Without Fear to life in live-action in a way that many fans scarcely dared believe was possible. The 2015 Netflix series introduced Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, chronicling the early days of his vigilante career as he begins to establish his Daredevil persona while finding himself contending with the schemes of Kingpin Wilson Fisk. After running for three seasons, Cox’s Daredevil then found his way into the MCU proper, eventually heading up a follow-up series, Daredevil: Born Again.

What makes Daredevil such a great origin story is that it doesn’t get immediately weighed down by establishing how the hero’s powers work or detailing the specific circumstances that led to him developing his abilities. It tells a vigilante story first, slowly revealing the hero’s full backstory over time, interspersed with eye-wateringly brutal action scenes that cemented Daredevil as a very different type of Marvel project. Expertly paced and perfectly gritty, Daredevil remains one of the best Marvel origin stories in TV history.

3) The Cape

The Cape is an interesting entry into the superhero genre, as the TV show’s reputation stems as much from its wider pop culture relevance as it does from the show itself. Its pilot aired in January 2011, but by March, The Cape had been officially cancelled, airing just 10 episodes before its unceremonious end. Despite the short-lived nature of The Cape, references to it on another NBC show, Community, helped bring it wider recognition, leading many to discover its clear potential as a superhero story.

While The Cape didn’t have any comic book source material to draw from, this proved not to be an issue, but rather a strength. Borrowing ideas from popular heroes and leaning on genre tropes, The Cape managed to establish a new hero that still felt reasonably familiar, allowing audiences to immediately connect with the vigilante. As short a run as the show might have had, it was a solid hero origin story that very quickly hooked its audience, even if it did ultimately leave them wanting more.

2) Arrow

Green Arrow was once a relatively little-known DC character, but after his appearance on Smallville, it became clear that he could easily carry his own show. Arrow first aired in 2012, serving as an origin story for its hero and later establishing a wider continuity of TV shows known as the Arrowverse. It tells the story of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen who forges a new identity as the titular vigilante after being shipwrecked on a mysterious island for five years.

Arrow‘s use of flashbacks to supplement its present-day stories made it an excellent origin story, as it bridged the gap between Oliver’s pre- and post-shipwreck life. Demonstrating how he learned his skills even as he employs them to tackle crime allowed Arrow to slowly reveal the details of the hero’s origin, offering a little information at a time alongside broader present-day story arcs. The excellent pacing of the show combined with the gritty portrayal of the vigilante made it a truly incredible chapter in superhero TV history.

1) Heroes

While many great superhero TV shows stem from comic book source material, this isn’t always the case. 2006 saw audiences introduced to Heroes, an ensemble drama that featured a large cast of characters who develop incredible abilities after a solar eclipse. The show’s first season in particular was incredibly strong, exploring how different characters’ respective natures led them to fall into typically heroic or villainous patterns of behavior.

As an origin story, Heroes was fascinating, and swiftly became a television sensation. The fact that it wasn’t based on a comic book also helped its popularity, as it kept fans guessing as to where its story was headed. While the show might have peaked with its first season, it was an exceptional superhero story that felt fresh and original while also touching on well-established genre tropes. Its ensemble cast made its origin story complex and deeply interesting, and while it never quite reached its full potential, it remains an excellent chapter in superhero TV history.