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Black Lightning poster

Shows that feel likeBlack Lightning (2018–2021)

Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community.

If you loved Black Lightning, the closest series we have are Marvel's Runaways (2017), DC's Stargirl (2020) and The Gifted (2017). All three share Black Lightning's kinetic and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Marvel's The Defenders (2017).

11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

If Black Lightning hit the spot, these will too

Marvel's Runaways poster
Marvel's Runaways
2017–2019 · 3 seasons · Hulu
★ 6.8action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasy

The same preoccupation in both: superhero

Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. What if you found out they actually were? Six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other must unite against a common foe – their parents.

DC's Stargirl poster
DC's Stargirl
2020–2022 · 3 seasons · The CW
★ 7.1sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaMax

One thread runs through both: superhero

Courtney Whitmore, a smart, athletic and above all else kind girl, discovers her step-father has a secret: he used to be the sidekick to a superhero. "Borrowing" the long-lost hero’s cosmic staff, she becomes the unlikely inspiration for an entirely new generation of superheroes.

The Gifted poster
The Gifted
2017–2019 · 2 seasons · FOX
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaHulu

Kinetic and epic in the same breath

A suburban couple's ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. poster
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2013–2020 · 7 seasons · ABC
★ 7.5drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureDisney+

The same mix in both: ideas, then dream logic

Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) puts together a team of agents to investigate the new, the strange and the unknown around the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary.

Titans poster
Titans
2018–2023 · 4 seasons · DC Universe
🍅 50%★ 7.4drama · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyMax

Action & adventure with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A team of young superheroes led by Nightwing (formerly Batman's first Robin) form to combat evil and other perils.

Marvel's The Defenders poster
Marvel's The Defenders
2017 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 7.2sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · crimeDisney+

Kinetic sci-fi & fantasy, and it commits to that

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Black Lightning

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist join forces to take on common enemies as a sinister conspiracy threatens New York City.

Batwoman poster
Batwoman
2019–2022 · 3 seasons · The CW
★ 3.6sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: arrowverse

The difference: Trades the stillness of Black Lightning for an angle of its own

Kate Kane, armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city's criminal resurgence. But don't call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham's symbol of hope

DC's Legends of Tomorrow poster
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
2016–2022 · 7 seasons · The CW
★ 6.7action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: arrowverse

When heroes alone are not enough ... the world needs legends. Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat — one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known?

Marvel's Inhumans poster
Marvel's Inhumans
2017 · 1 season · ABC
★ 4.9drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureDisney+

Both lean on scale more than on drama

After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.

Jupiter's Legacy poster
Jupiter's Legacy
2021 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 6.7sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaNetflix

Action & adventure built on ideas, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Black Lightning does

As the world's first generation of superheroes (who received their powers in the 1930s) become the revered elder guard in the present, their superpowered children struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents.

Marvel's Iron Fist poster
Marvel's Iron Fist
2017–2018 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.4action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyDisney+

Dreamlike sci-fi & fantasy in both cases

Danny Rand resurfaces 15 years after being presumed dead. Now, with the power of the Iron Fist, he seeks to reclaim his past and fulfill his destiny.

Secret Invasion poster
Secret Invasion
2023 · 1 season · Disney+
★ 5.8drama · sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventureDisney+

Contemplative drama in both cases

Nick Fury and Talos discover a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years.

In the mood for more kinetic?

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The best-reviewed series that share Black Lightning’s defining feeling.