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Marvel's Luke Cage poster

Shows that feel likeMarvel's Luke Cage (2016–2018)

Given superstrength and durability by a sabotaged experiment, a wrongly accused man escapes prison to become a superhero for hire.

If you loved Marvel's Luke Cage, the closest series we have are Marvel's Daredevil (2015), Marvel's The Defenders (2017) and Marvel's The Punisher (2017). All three share Marvel's Luke Cage'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 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020).

★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗2 seasons · Netflixcreated by Cheo Hodari Cokercontemplativekineticepicgritty
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu
Stream it:Disney+ ↗

If Marvel's Luke Cage hit the spot, these will too

Marvel's Daredevil poster
Marvel's Daredevil
2015–2018 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.6crime · drama · action & adventureDisney+

One protector, one neighborhood, and a crime boss dug in deep

The difference: Catholic guilt and brutal hallway fights instead of Harlem swagger

Lawyer-by-day Matt Murdock uses his heightened senses from being blinded as a young boy to fight crime at night on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil.

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

Luke himself, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of street-level Marvel

The difference: A rushed eight-episode team-up — the mystic plot underwhelms

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

Marvel's The Punisher poster
Marvel's The Punisher
2017–2019 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.4action & adventure · crime · dramaDisney+

A wronged man waging a one-man war the law can't wage for him

The difference: No powers and no mercy — the violence is far uglier here

A former Marine out to punish the criminals responsible for his family's murder finds himself ensnared in a military conspiracy.

Arrow poster
Arrow
2012–2020 · 8 seasons · The CW
★ 7.5crime · drama · action & adventure

A changed man returns to clean up the city that made him

The difference: CW melodrama and flashbacks — grit applied rather than earned

Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.

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+

Marvel's ground troops protecting ordinary people from the extraordinary

The difference: A network ensemble caper — no neighborhood, no simmering anger

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.

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

Superpowers tangled up with questions of loyalty and family

The difference: Teen soap pacing — the villains are parents, not crime bosses

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.

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

Marvel outsiders fighting for their place in a hostile world

The difference: Widely panned — cheap-looking with none of Harlem's soul

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.

FBI poster
FBI
2018– · 9 seasons · CBS
★ 7.1crime · action & adventure · dramaParamount+

The same city underneath both: New York City

The New York office of the FBI brings to bear all their talents, intellect and technical expertise on major cases in order to keep their city and the country safe.

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

Luke's future partner working the same street-level Marvel beat

The difference: The weakest Defender — flat fights and a hero hard to root for

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.

S.W.A.T. poster
S.W.A.T.
2017–2025 · 8 seasons · CBS
★ 7.2crime · action & adventure · dramaNetflixPrime Video

Contemplative where it counts, kinetic underneath

A Los Angeles S.W.A.T. sergeant is assigned to lead a highly skilled unit in the community where he grew up. Torn between loyalty to the streets, where the cops are sometimes the enemy, and allegiance to his brothers in blue, he strategically straddles the two worlds.

9-1-1: Lone Star poster
9-1-1: Lone Star
2020–2025 · 5 seasons · FOX
★ 7.4drama · action & adventure · crimeHulu

Epic and gritty in the same breath

Nearly 20 years ago, Owen Strand was the lone survivor of his Manhattan firehouse on 9/11. In the wake of the attack, Owen had the unenviable task of rebuilding his station. After a similar tragedy happens to a firehouse in Austin, Owen, along with his troubled firefighter son, T.K., takes his progressive philosophies of life and firefighting down to Texas, where he helps them start anew. On the surface, Owen is all about big-city style and swagger, but underneath he struggles with a secret he hides from the world - one that could very well end his life.

Hawaii Five-0 poster
Hawaii Five-0
2010–2020 · 10 seasons · CBS
★ 7.4crime · drama · action & adventureNetflixParamount+

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Steve McGarrett returns home to Oahu, in order to find his father's killer. The governor offers him the chance to run his own task force (Five-0). Steve's team is joined by Chin Ho Kelly, Danny "Danno" Williams, and Kono Kalakaua.

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The best-reviewed series that share Marvel's Luke Cage’s defining feeling.