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Heroes poster

Shows that feel likeHeroes (2006–2010)

Common people discover that they have super powers. Their lives intertwine as a devastating event must be prevented.

If you loved Heroes, the closest series we have are The 4400 (2004), The Magicians (2015) and Sense8 (2015). All three share Heroes' cerebral and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Shadow Hunter (2005).

★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗4 seasons · NBCcreated by Tim Kringcerebraldreamlikecontemplative
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:Netflix ↗
Buy seasons:Amazon see price ↗Apple TV$19.99 buyHeroes, The Complete Collection · Apple price as of 2026-08-23

If Heroes hit the spot, these will too

The 4400 poster
The 4400
2004–2007 · 4 seasons · USA Network
★ 7.3drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Unexplained abilities appearing in scattered people, and the state reacting

The difference: Cooler and more procedural, closer to case files than destiny

4400 centers on the return of 4400 people who, previously presumed dead or reported missing, reappear on Earth. Though they have not aged physically, some of them seem to have deeper alterations ranging from superhuman strength to an unexplained healing touch. A government agency is formed to track the 4400 people after one of them commits a murder.

The Magicians poster
The Magicians
2015–2020 · 5 seasons · Syfy
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Young people discovering power and finding it costs more than expected

The difference: Fantasy world-hopping with adult mess and much sharper humour

Brakebills University is a secret institution specializing in magic. There, amidst an unorthodox education of spellcasting, a group of twenty-something friends soon discover that a magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity.

Sense8 poster
Sense8
2015–2018 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.2sci-fi & fantasy · dramaNetflix

Strangers across the world linked by something none of them chose

The difference: Warmer and sensual — connection matters more than conspiracy

One gunshot, one death, one moment out of time that irrevocably links eight minds in disparate parts of the world, putting them in each other's lives, each other's secrets, and in terrible danger. Ordinary people suddenly reborn as "Sensates."

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

An ordinary person discovering they were always meant for this

The difference: Family-friendly and small-town, with proper capes

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.

Shadow Hunter poster
Shadow Hunter
2005–2006 · 1 season · Space
★ 7.3sci-fi & fantasy · drama

Curiosity about the unexplained taken completely at face value

The difference: An actual documentary ghost hunt — no characters, no story

A documentary series about the paranormal, hosted by Darryll Walsh, a ghost hunter, best-selling author and doctor of parapsychology.

Once Upon a Time poster
Once Upon a Time
2011–2018 · 7 seasons · ABC
★ 7.6drama · sci-fi & fantasyHuluDisney+

Strangers whose lives turn out to be tangled by a hidden design

The difference: Fairy-tale sentiment and fantasy pageantry rather than modern realism

There is a town in Maine where every story book character you've ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth and only one can break the spell.

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

Disparate powered people forced into one messy team

The difference: Deliberately silly, with time travel as a playground

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?

V poster
V
2009–2011 · 2 seasons · ABC
★ 6.8sci-fi & fantasy · drama

One extraordinary event splitting ordinary lives into sides

The difference: A single alien conspiracy, colder and more political than personal

A re-imagining of the 1980s miniseries about the world's first encounter with an alien race in which the aliens call themselves The Visitors, and have a seemingly friendly agenda that may or may not be a cover for something more malevolent.

Gotham poster
Gotham
2014–2019 · 5 seasons · FOX
★ 7.8drama · crime · sci-fi & fantasy

An origin story told slowly, everyone becoming who they will be

The difference: Crime opera in one city, and no powers for most of it

Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?

The Flash poster
The Flash
2014–2023 · 9 seasons · The CW
★ 7.4drama · sci-fi & fantasyNetflix

An ordinary person waking up changed and learning what they can do

The difference: A single hero with a team and a costume, comic-book bright

After being struck by lightning, CSI investigator Barry Allen awakens from a nine-month coma to discover he has been granted the gift of super speed. Teaming up with S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry takes on the persona of The Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, to protect his city.

Merlin poster
Merlin
2008–2012 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

One thread runs through both: superpowers

The difference: Sits closer to action & adventure than Heroes does

The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: superpowers

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.

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The best-reviewed series that share Heroes’ defining feeling.