Best Marvel Animated Series

Marvel has adapted their most famous franchises into animated series for almost as long as they've been publishing them as comic books. The first-ever Marvel Comics cartoon series, The Marvel Super Heroes, debuted on TV in 1966, featuring iconic characters like Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk. Since then, animated series have been made for numerous Marvel heroes.

More recently, Marvel Studios has begun expanding their Marvel Cinematic Universe properties into the television space, resulting in series exclusive to Disney+ or Hulu. Among these new shows are some of the best Marvel fans have gotten to see, and with series like Marvel Zombies on the horizon, it'd be worthwhile to look at which Marvel animated shows are the best.

Updated March 28th, 2025, by Blaise Santi: It's an exciting year for fans of Marvel Animation, between the recent premiere of the highly-anticipated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (which already has been renewed for two more seasons), as well as the upcoming series Eyes of Wakanda and Marvel Zombies, both of which are slated to hit Disney+ in August and October of this year, respectively. A lot of Marvel's recent ventures into television have been hit or miss for fans, but these animated series have proven themselves to be among the best the company has put out in the past two decades. In anticipation of more on the way, let's take a look at a few other Marvel animated series from their television history that deserve your attention while waiting for new ones to release!

20 Fantastic Four: The Animated Series

IMDb Rating: 6.4/10

With there being lots of divisive opinions on the Fantastic Four film franchises, one thing fans of Marvel's First Family can agree on is that they were best represented (so far) by this animated series. Premiering on syndicated TV in 1994, the series is a pretty faithful adaptation of the comic books, featuring the team's origin and greatest enemies.

While the first season explores plotlines like the coming of Galactus and the origin of Doctor Doom, the second season featured cameos from the Inhumans and Black Panther. Although it only ran for two seasons, it was a great example of how the Fantastic Four are best utilized on-screen: by sticking to the absurdity and character dynamics of the original comics.

19 Iron Man: The Animated Series

IMDb Rating: 6.5/10

Many Marvel Comics fans will remind you that, prior to Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the character in the MCU, Iron Man wasn't as popular as he is today. Nevertheless, the character did get a short-lived animated series on syndication in the mid-90s, with legendary voice actor Robert Hays voicing the billionaire-turned-techno-vigilante.

As an Iron Man series, this cartoon is a lot more faithful to the character's comic book origins than his now-iconic MCU iteration, featuring battles against the Mandarin and M.O.D.O.K, as well as cameos from Avengers like Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Woman. The series also did several cross-overs with two other animated Marvel series, one of which being...

18 The Incredible Hulk

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

If you're a fan of The Hulk, then The Incredible Hulk from 1996 should be on your watchlist. It went through a lot of changes throughout its run, including its second season being re-branded as The Incredible Hulk and She-Hulk in order to appeal to more viewers. Nevertheless, it's a quintessential series of Hulk stories, featuring live-action actor Lou Ferrigno as the voice of the titular transformation.

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Additionally, if you were disappointed by the portrayal of The Leader in this past year's Captain America: Brave New World, then this series will probably satisfy your itch to see the character done right. The series also boasts some strong talent in its voice cast, including Luke Perry, who voices Rick Jones, as well as Mark Hamill, who voices Gargoyle.

17 Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

2025 is the best year to start brushing up on previous incarnations of Marvel's First Family, including Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, an animated series that ran for 26 episodes. Compared to the '90s iteration of the team, World's Greatest Heroes features original stories loosely based on the comics rather than being direct adaptations, meaning it might share a lot of similarities with the upcoming live-action film.

To get an idea of just how ambitious The Fantastic Four could be in their adventures, World's Greatest Heroes did a wonderful job capturing the scope that was sorely missing in the early 2000s' live-action films. Plus, you get to see an episode in which She-Hulk briefly joins the team, which is a dynamic you wouldn't expect to be as... Well, dynamic as it is!

16 Avengers Assemble

IMDb Rating: 7.0/10

This animated series comes from the writing collective known as Man of Action, whose most notable work includes Ben 10 and Big Hero 6. Compared to other Avengers-centric Marvel shows, Avengers Assemble is unique not only because it ran for over five seasons but because it centers on one underrated Avenger in particular: Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon, the team's newest recruit.

Each season of Avengers Assemble is incredibly ambitious, covering different eras of Avengers comic book history in around 26 episodes each. Season 1 focuses on the Red Skull's formation of the Cabal, season 2 features a crossover between Thanos and Ultron, and season four surprisingly adapts Secret Wars. Though its demographic is much younger, it's a great series for hardcore Marvel fanatics.

15 Black Panther

IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

Black Panther has certainly taken on a life of its own after the 2018 film's success. However, this 2010 animated mini-series ran for six episodes on BET in the United States. It also features an all-star cast including MCU veteran Djimon Hounsou as T'Challa, with a supporting cast of Kerry Washington, Carl Lumbly, Taye Diggs, and Stan Lee himself.

The show features a similar story to the 2018 film, with T'Challa inheriting the Black Panther role from his father and facing a team of villains, including Ulysses Klaue as well as characters like Juggernaut and the Black Knight. As far as animated Marvel shows go, Black Panther feels even more mature and ahead of its time than the MCU version.

14 Silver Surfer

IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

Although it only aired for one season on Fox Kids before getting canceled, Silver Surfer remains one of the most unique Marvel animated shows. Released in 1998, the show centers on Norrin Radd, who saves his planet from destruction at the hands of Galactus by offering himself as the destroyer's herald, traveling the cosmos in search of planets for the cosmic being to consume.

Silver Surfer is an excellent display of Marvel's cosmic characters, featuring early adaptations of Thanos, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Adam Warlock. Perhaps the greatest slight against this show, which is written and animated beautifully, is that it ends with a huge cliffhanger that sadly seems like it'll never be resolved unless Marvel Studios decides to revive it.

13 Big Hero 6: The Series

IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

You might be scratching your heads wondering why Big Hero 6: The Series, based on the Disney film, is on this list. Surprisingly, the film originated as a Marvel Comics series, created by Man of Action, the same minds behind Ben 10. The animated series, which aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD in the late 2010s, feels a lot more indebted to the franchise's comic book origins than the feature film.

Reuniting the same cast from the movie, Big Hero 6: The Series follows the adventures of the titular team, led by Hiro Hamada and his inflatable robot Baymax. It sadly was canceled in 2021, though the franchise continued on with Baymax!, a six-episode miniseries on Disney+ in 2022. Still, that show felt more like a sitcom, whereas the proper animated series was more comic book action.

12 Ultimate Spider-Man

IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

Ultimate Spider-Man is far from the first, nor the last, animated series based on Marvel's friendly neighborhood web-slinger. However, what sets Ultimate Spider-Man apart from the rest is the talent behind the screen, including original comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis, as well as Man of Action, the group behind projects like Ben 10, Big Hero 6, and Generator Rex.

Premiering in 2012, Ultimate Spider-Man's adventures feature some familiar storylines, from Peter's battle with the Venom symbiote to Norman Osborn's transformation into the Green Goblin. There are even appearances in later seasons by the Guardians of the Galaxy and characters from the Spider-Verse. Even J.K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson in animated form.

11 What If...?

IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

What If...? Was the first animated series to be produced by Marvel Studios Animation during the expansion of the MCU into television. Premiering in 2021, the anthology series features stars from the live-action Marvel films reprising their roles to observe how stories would differ from how they happened in the MCU, including Hayley Atwell, Josh Brolin, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

What elevates What If...? Is how the stories surprisingly weave together, such as when The Watcher forms a team out of alternate heroes in the Season 1 finale. One of them, notably, is Chadwick Boseman's final performance as T'Challa in a reality where he's Star-Lord, while Season 2 introduces an original character in Kahhori, a Mohawk woman powered by the Tesseract.