All 22 Marvel Cinematic Universe TV Shows, Ranked

Since the dawn of "The Avengers" in 2012, Marvel Studios has had its sights set on television. What better way for the rising juggernaut to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe — essentially one of, if not the most popular and expensive work of serialized storytelling ever produced — than to incorporate traditional serialized storytelling into their plans. Not only would this allow them to tell smaller, character-driven stories that would benefit from less spectacle and more screen time, but it would give fans around the world the chance to enter the MCU regularly from the comfort of their own homes.

The results of this project in the decade-plus since its inception have been... mixed, to say the least. Some series have been so moving, innovative, or impactful that they rank among the franchise's best stories to date. Others are so dull, plodding, and unwatchable, that Marvel would probably thank us for not reminding you of them. Unfortunately for them, we like ranking things a little too much, and have thus ranked all 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows released as of writing (excluding non-MCU series like "Cloak and Dagger," "The Runaways," "Hellstrom," "X-Men '97," and "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man"). From ABC to Netflix to Disney+, we've ordered these series based on quality, consistency, and ultimate relevancy to the MCU at large.

If there's one TV show Marvel Studios wishes it could make you forget, it's "Inhumans." From creator and showrunner Scott Buck (who, despite credits on popular shows like "Six Feet Under" and "Dexter," is responsible for the bottom two entries on this list), the series was something of a white whale for certain Marvel executives in the years before the Walt Disney Company acquired 20th Century Fox, beginning its life as a feature film in Phase Three of the MCU. The thinking was that the Inhumans were vaguely similar enough to the X-Men that they could render their only rival obsolete. It was an uncharacteristically cynical strategy spearheaded by infamous and ousted Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, who held a longstanding grudge against Fox's "X-Men."

The result of all this ego and petty back-room beefing is a show that's nowhere near as interesting as the drama that preceded it. The major difference between the Inhumans and the X-Men is that Marvel's royal family are ridiculously dull, and no amount of "Game of Thrones" hype nor a hilariously ill-advised IMAX premiere could change that. The only thing of note worth pointing out (aside from the fact that Black Bolt actor Anson Mount surprisingly reprised his role years after its cancellation for one of Marvel Studios' most brutal death scenes) is that the series essentially and uncritically asks audiences to root for a dictatorship built on sci-fi eugenics. As of writing, it is Marvel's worst rated TV show on Rotten Tomatoes, holding strong at 11%.

That's right, at almost the exact same time Scott Buck was developing and serving as the showrunner for "Inhumans," he was performing the same duties for Netflix's "Iron Fist," a series that — while slightly better-looking than "Inhumans" — is basically just as unwatchable.

The series faced an uphill battle in the court of public opinion even before it was released. The casting of Finn Jones as Danny Rand drew criticisms despite technically being comic book accurate, as it perpetuated the source material's appropriation of Chinese culture (the fact that it coincided with the controversy surrounding the principal cast of "Doctor Strange," which included no Chinese actors despite similarly appropriative source material, only made matters worse).

Even ignoring the discourse, however, we knew right away that "Iron Fist" was the first Netflix-Marvel dud. Jones was utterly listless as Danny, a breathy billionaire whose mastery of martial arts was about as thrilling to watch as a beginner ballroom dancing class. Though it slightly improved itself in its second season (and introduced audiences to Jessica Henwick, who was the show's sole highlight as Colleen Wing), there's still nothing nice to say about the series overall.

The failures of "Iron Fist" and "Inhumans" sting a little less for Marvel fans and likely for the studio itself, easily written off as ill-fated experiments from an era of Marvel Television that was effectively annexed from the MCU proper even at the time. A series as closely tied to the MCU as "Secret Invasion," however, is a lot harder to shake.

For what it's worth, "Secret Invasion" hit the ground running in its premiere episodes, reviving Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury and the web of SHIELD-adjacent characters connected to him for what might have been a paranoid spy-thriller, perhaps in the same vein as "Mr. Robot," the acclaimed USA thriller series from which series creator Kyle Bradstreet hailed. Due to some bizarre creative reshuffling behind the scenes, Bradstreet and his work was almost entirely revised by relatively newcomer Brian Tucker, whose only other writing credit prior to re-penning every episode of "Secret Invasion" is an obscure 2013 Mark Wahlberg-Russell Crowe bomb called "Broken City."

It can't help but feel like Tucker was set up to fail here, as the whimpering finale of "Secret Invasion" plops like a mash of safe ideas the studio thought would play well on Twitter and great ideas that the studio was too scared to use. Despite being based on one of Marvel's most iconic and impactful comic book storylines, the series is forgettable and entirely skippable, wasting all the talent and source material at its disposal.

Marvel's big play with Netflix was to assemble a small-screen "Avengers" that could scratch the same MCU itch for fans seemingly without having to coordinate regular crossovers between television and film (a show much higher on this list showed Marvel how difficult and fruitless such a relationship would be, at least until the advent of Disney+). Once they had successfully established Charlie Cox's Daredevil, Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones, Mike Colter's Luke Cage, and (less successfully) Finn Jones' Iron Fist, the stage was set for all four heroes to finally come together for "The Defenders."

The series was helmed by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez, both of whom worked on the first season of "Daredevil" – a promising but ultimately disappointing duo. In bringing all these characters from good-to-great series together, they only managed to equalize the overall uneven quality of Netflix's Marvel efforts. While Jones and Iron Fist were elevated by their status as support players and the chance to interact with better characters, the rest of the cast were bogged down by a story that was every bit as incoherent, dull, and dreadfully paced as the worst the streamer had to offer thus far.

As a television action-thriller, "Echo" isn't half-bad. If it were stripped of all its Marvel prestige, it wouldn't be that different from the sort of mid-concept network series that would live or die depending on its timeslot and audience. Given the sluggish pace and two-dimensional characters, it would likely go the way of "The Cape" or "Bionic Woman" (at best, it'd be a well-remembered blip like "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" or "Dark Angel").

This is all to say that "Echo," unlike the previous entries on this list, isn't entirely undeserving of a watch, nor is it necessarily suffering from poor execution in terms of action or spectacle. Alaqua Cox (who stars as the titular assassin, reprising her standout role from "Hawkeye") carries the series exceptionally well, especially for someone tasked with playing a new and obscure character from the comics. Storywise, "Echo" confuses the mere presence of emotional truth as compelling drama in and of itself, forgetting to use it as fuel for a thrilling adventure rather than a centerpiece surrounded by disparate punches and kicks.

Some will argue with sound reason that the Punisher really doesn't need and has never needed his own TV or movie in the contemporary MCU. Given that the franchise overall plays it too safe to engage with any of the complex themes that would justify adapting a character with such a complicated legacy, perhaps he would have been best served to remain a supporting antagonist on a show with a simpler hero like Daredevil.

For the two seasons that Marvel and Netflix did valiantly try to make Frank Castle the hero of his own story, the only truly compelling thing on screen was Jon Bernthal's performance — he is without question the best live-action Punisher to date, one of the strongest acting components of the MCU at large, and a valid reason to work through what is often an ordinary blend of "Daredevil" and the worst parts of "24." There is nothing memorable about the story, even with its characteristically tepid engagement with the impact of the U.S. military overseas and predictably convoluted and shallow moral waffling over Frank's actions.

Look. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is a very ... distinct show. It's probably the only Marvel series on Disney+ whose target audience isn't a vague, focus-grouped understanding of the median MCU fan. It's a show you'll know by the first episode whether or not it's for you. That's genuinely something to praise; sadly, the polarizing reception of the series will likely make Marvel avoid similar risks in the future in favor of producing more interchangeable "long movies." 

This isn't to say that "She-Hulk" is good just because it dares to be unlikable. It's a messy show that rides (to mixed effect) entirely on Tatiana Maslany's charm while trying to be three different series at once — a good, corporate product for Disney and Marvel; an irreverent meta-comedy spoofing superheroes and legal dramas; a serious exploration of sexism, emotion, and identity. It isn't triumphant in any of these categories, though there are enough successful moments "She-Hulk" can be reasonably satisfying relative to what it asks of you. Its finale has some sparks of genius, and the Daredevil crossover is worth the price of admission alone, both standing out as two of the most memorable episodes of Marvel TV yet.

At this point in our list, ranking these shows relative to one another becomes significantly more difficult — especially when considering a show like "Luke Cage," which started off at the peak of Marvel's TV potential and ended with a forgettable thud. Mike Colter stars as the titular character, a bullet-proof ex-convict who wages a one-man war on the corrupt forces plaguing the good people of Harlem.

Any superhero or crime TV fan should give the first season of "Luke Cage" a shot. For the first seven episodes, he and co-stars Alfre Woodard and Mahershala Ali turn a superhero show into an arresting, deeply moving crime drama worthy of comparison to "The Wire." However, the Marvelness of it all comes in heavy at the last minute, culminating in a clunky, superpowered slug-out that feels like it belongs in the lost drafts of an "Arrow" script. Sadly, the second season of "Luke Cage" totally gave up on the daring, character-driven narrative tone in favor of the plodding light-action of the worst Netflix Marvel products.

If "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" had a tighter budget and lost the benefits of its closer proximity to the MCU, it would be placed below "Luke Cage" — possibly even lower. For how strong this spiritual sequel to the "Captain America" trilogy starts out, its finale is so pandering and embarrassing that no one should have been surprised by the abysmal follow-up in "Captain America: Brave New World."

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are endlessly watchable as the unlikely heroes of the MCU's first true buddy-cop dramedy, with Sam Wilson (Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Stan) both receiving individually gripping character arcs that wrestle with their past and future within the MCU. Sam in particular enjoys what is painfully close to being the most nuanced story told by Marvel Studios, as he confronts what it would actually mean for him to accept the mantle of Captain America. This unusually complex conflict is further bolstered by the introduction of Carl Lumbly's Isaiah Bradley and the reintroduction of Daniel Brühl's Zemo, both of whom provide challenging perspectives along the way. And, of course, there's Wyatt Russell's John Walker, the new Captain America who nearly steals the series as one of Marvel's best-written villains yet.

All this greatness falls apart when it tries to carry the shallow Flag Smashers storyline, which peddles tired tropes about revolutions and reduces its core characters to petulant video game bosses. The finale in particular suffers from the storyline's lack of depth, delivering an hour of simplistic moral grandstanding that ruins an otherwise exceptional season of TV.

"Ironheart" had a lot of obstacles to overcome in order to land with fans, most of which were entirely out of its control. The absence of Tony Stark and Robert Downey Jr. meant it would lack some of the most memorable aspects of the original comic book series, and the suit alone would require a level of VFX work that has eluded Marvel Television fairly consistently even during the Disney+ era. Unfortunately, this underdog story doesn't end in definitive success — but it's not a total Marvel malfunction.

The characters of "Ironheart" are a breath of fresh air, with Dominique Thorne, Anthony Ramos, and Alden Ehrenreich capitalizing on the human drama the story leans on — perhaps too heavily at times, forgetting that it needs to be both emotionally compelling and fantastically thrilling. We can actually admire the unexpectedly dark tone it chose to strike at times (exploring themes of guilt, loss, shame, corruption, and moral sacrifice with more commitment than some superhero shows engage with much simpler ideas), but an uneven and contrived plot leaves a lot of its best parts looking like scrap metal. At the very least, it's worth throwing on for Sacha Baron Cohen's surprising Marvel villain debut.

Of all the series we've addressed so far, "Jessica Jones" is the only one with a truly flawless season. Its first outing is so good, in fact, that if it hadn't gone on to air two middling subsequent seasons, the series would easily crack the Top 5 on this very list. Unfortunately, just like "Luke Cage," its second and third seasons fall victim to poor pacing, a lack of action, and unwieldy storylines — all of which, at this point, seem to be mandated storytelling constraints from Marvel Television executives.

If you can cast your mind back to 2015, you'll remember that "Jessica Jones" debuted with a justifiably dark story that followed the titular private investigator (Krysten Ritter, delivering a career-best performance) as she learns that a superhuman master manipulator from her past (a genuinely terrifying David Tennant) has returned with the desire to control her once more. It's Marvel at their most audacious and disturbing, so much so that the tone seems to have been unsustainable in the long run. Still, the first season of "Jessica Jones" is unmissable prestige television regardless of its comic book connections.

The true and final placement of "Daredevil: Born Again" on a list like this one is admittedly in flux. It has only released one season as of writing, and has been greenlit for at least one more. That said, judging by the quality of this season alone, we can't in good conscience allow it into the Top 10 yet.

"Born Again" is very obviously a show that suffered from behind-the-scenes issues, the final product being a hacked-together Frankenstein of the bare essentials from the original 18-episode series order and some reshoots from writer Dario Scardapane ("The Punisher") and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead ("Loki"), a creative team hired in the 11th-hour to produce a truncated but higher-quality final product. Three of the series' nine episodes are helmed by the trio, and they're far and away some of the most visually striking and narratively engaging episodes of a Disney+ Marvel series yet.

That said, the rest of the series is so inconsistent and inferior to the original Netflix "Daredevil" series that it's hard to recommend. There's enough that works to hold out hope for the series' future, but for now, "Daredevil: Born Again" hasn't justified its rebirth.

Kicking off our Top 10 best Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows of all time is "Moon Knight," a horror-tinged miniseries singlehandedly saved by the blockbuster talent of Oscar Isaac. For the majority of the series, the actor shifts effortlessly between the dual roles of hapless museum worker Steven Grant and the antiheroic mercenary Marc Spector, both of whom are the shared personalities of a single human man possessed by the Egyptian moon god Khonshu.

It's a wild premise, and one that Marvel Studios mostly delivers on despite requiring an abnormal amount of CGI characters for a TV series. For however wonky these animated assets look, Isaac's zany and fully-committed performance helps create a heightened dramatic atmosphere that makes any of the show's more uncanny aspects — from the special effects to the bizarre plotting — easy and enjoyable to go along with. And with several memorable and surprisingly brutal fight sequences throughout (and dutiful performances from F. Murray Abraham and Ethan Hawke), "Moon Knight" provides six episodes of worthwhile entertainment for any Marvel fan.

With double the charisma in its dual leads and a story just a bit more cohesive and emotionally compelling than "Moon Knight," "Hawkeye" is an unexpectedly delightful Christmas adventure that only underwhelms when compared to the rest of Marvel's initial Disney+ output. It works in large part because it's built for casual Marvel fans. Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton has been a recognizable face for moviegoers since 2012's "The Avengers," and Marvel and Disney take advantage of that narrative runway to pair him up with newcomer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). Characters like Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk are just delicious icing on an already satisfying cake.

The two actors play off one another incredibly, her youthful excitement bringing out the sort of gruff charm we only saw in brief flashes from Clint when he was saddled with the Maximoff twins in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." It's a genuine shame Marvel doesn't want to pay Renner for a second season, because his chemistry with Steinfeld is the major reason why "Hawkeye" could be an enjoyable show that actually runs as an ongoing series (rather than a miniseries to test audience engagement for future "Avengers" films).

Even though "Inhumans" and the failed spin-offs of "Marvel's Most Wanted" and "Ghost Rider" left the ABC-era feeling like a false start for Marvel's TV dreams, there's no denying that era produced the franchise's only successful traditional MCU television shows — including underrated gems like "Agent Carter." 

Franchise-defining screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (the entire original "Captain America" trilogy, "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame") took the threads left behind by "Captain America: The First Avenger," a few episodes of "Agents of SHIELD," and the original "Agent Carter" one-shot short film and created a period action-adventure series that was unique in the television landscape even without the superhero patina.

For those who missed the series when it was airing and have yet to give it a chance on Disney+, "Agent Carter" follows Hayley Atwell's super spy as she attempts to further the development of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (the proto-SHIELD agency) during the years after World War II. With its blend of nostalgic 20th century aesthetics and sci-fi action, it feels cousin to "Indiana Jones," and recaptures the unique style of "The First Avenger" for a lighter, pulpier story.

"What If...?" is an almost unavoidably hit-or-miss show. No, not all of the episodes are created equal, and some viewers may only find about half of them to be worth the watch. But if you're going into a show like "What If...?" to judge each story in comparison to what you've seen from the MCU thus far, you're already kinda missing the point — and robbing yourself of some top-tier comic book fun in the process.

Regardless of their subjective quality, each story told in "What If...?" is exactly what it should be — ambitious, breezy, weird, and a little bit ridiculous. The series as a whole is honestly at its weakest when it's trying to tie up all the characters and stories into one, vaguely cohesive climax that repositions the series as a multiversal narrative epic rather than an anthology. Even then, the colorful battles and sequences of adventure that come as a result of smashing these disparate action figures together in Marvel's animated toy box are frankly refreshing when compared to the rote output that represents the majority of the studio's volume post-"Endgame."

It was a close race between "Ms. Marvel" and the next pick on our list for which series should get to start our Top 5. For some – including, apparently, critics on Rotten Tomatoes — "Ms. Marvel" is the best Marvel Studios television show yet produced. It's not hard to see why the show is as beloved as it is. Though it might not be as out-there as "She-Hulk," "Ms. Marvel" has a steady handle on its chosen subgenre, proudly rendering Kamala Khan's origin story as a breathlessly imaginative teen comedy.

It strikes a pitch-perfect tone from the first episode that is both stylistically fresh and well within the series' wheelhouse, allowing it to maintain this energy consistently for the entirety of the series. It also helps that star Iman Vellani and the entire Khan family are so endearing and bursting with personality that the show doesn't need to rely on worn out Marvel tropes to stay entertaining. The only reason "Ms. Marvel" isn't higher on this list is that its highs are quite as high as other series that are a bit more exciting, if less consistent.

If you have a gripe with "Agents of SHIELD" getting the first spot in our Top 5, it's probably because you missed the boat on watching it live when it first started airing back in 2013. Fresh off "The Avengers," Marvel's flagship TV project — without the success of which, there would likely not be a Marvel TV division today — set out to further expand the reaches of the MCU in ways fans could have only dreamed of.

The first season was a special kind of magic, perfectly aligned with the films' release schedule to weave into the overarching MCU story in real time. Tuning in after "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" premiered was one of the coolest experiences the MCU has created. Because this sort of storytelling strategy was far from sustainable in the long term — not to mention detrimental to the show telling its own story and developing its own characters — they soon pivoted to using the series as a place to explore characters and concepts from Marvel Comics that the films would likely never touch. As a result, "Agents of SHIELD" actually stands on its own as a true television series, and deserves to be remembered among the top tier of Marvel's efforts on TV.

Similarly to "Echo," we'd have to admit some skepticism when Marvel announced an obscure supporting character from one of its first shows was getting their own miniseries. Was anyone really clamoring to spend more time with the twist villain from "WandaVision?" Shamefully, we forgot one of the golden rules of television — never underestimate the power of Kathryn Hahn.

Set up perfectly as the Halloween binge-watch of 2024, "Agatha All Along" cast a stronger spell on audiences than it had any right to. Hahn's Agatha Harkness and her coven of witches — including a spell-binding Aubrey Plaza and a definitely-not-Avenging Joe Locke in the totally inconspicuous role of "Teen" — breathed new life into a MCU during an uncharacteristically dead year for the franchise (aside from "Deadpool and Wolverine" and "Echo," the franchise had effectively taken a tactical retreat following a brutal 2023).

Jac Schaeffer's return to the showrunner's chair (having already delivered one Marvel hit on Disney+) is freer, more spirited, and more dangerous than her previous endeavor, if less meaningful for the MCU at large. Even if it isn't required viewing just yet, it's ironically one of the few Marvel series that doesn't feel like homework.

Our top three choices are so close in quality, fans could easily reshuffle them in any order depending on what they personally love about MCU stories. For those who love the franchise's blend of science fiction and fantasy, "Loki" reigns supreme.

Tom Hiddleston executive produces and stars in the two-season series, which follows a variant of the God of Mischief who briefly escaped custody after the Battle of New York before being captured by the Time Variance Authority. The story that unfolds thereafter has tremendous implications for the future (or, at least, the former future) of the MCU, introducing the framework of the Marvel multiverse for the first time.

More than its impact on the MCU, however, "Loki" impresses due to its uniquely fleshed-out cast of characters, each of whom are written with an earnestness and depth that imbues the drama with as much complexity as the plot. It landed at our #3 spot due to the uneven quality of its less-cohesive second season — though the series finale provides Loki a stunning end befitting one of Marvel's oldest, most complicated, and beloved characters.

In our hearts, the best Marvel TV show released on Disney+ is still the first. Among fans, Jac Schaffer's "WandaVision" is largely remembered for the buzzier moments — the return of Evan Peters as "Pietro Maximoff;" the surprise twist that the nosey neighbor was actually "Agatha All Along" (and not, in fact, someone related to Mephisto); the debut and disappearance of Wanda Maximoff's children; the final goodbye to Vision.

Released week-to-week in contrast to the binge method of Netflix's Marvel shows, these moments made "WandaVision" a treasure to tune into throughout the early weeks of 2021. With COVID lockdowns still in place, it was able to captivate audiences with its unsettling sense of tension and mystery, as well as its heartbreaking exploration of grief and loneliness. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany deliver performances that rank among the MCU's best, and Matt Shakman's direction has the confidence, ingenuity, and necessary versatility of a true master of the television medium. Though the disappointing laser-witch finale robs it of the top spot on this list, it is perhaps the most emotionally moving story Marvel has ever dared to tell.

When you think of peak Marvel television, chances are, you think of "Daredevil." The inaugural project of the Netflix-era of Marvel TV (released at a time when the streamer was at the peak of its dramatic output, dominating awards seasons with daring series like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black"), it strove to carve out its own corner of the MCU that was more adult, morally complex, and artistically audacious than what fans would see in theaters. "Daredevil" is the only Netflix series to achieve that goal.

All three seasons of the show — including the divisive second season — excel at everything a Marvel TV series should attempt. Each installment boasted memorable action set-pieces that were often distinct episode-to-episode. The antagonists, especially Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk and Wilson Bethel's Bullseye, weren't just exceptional Marvel bad guys, but some of the most compelling villains you'd see on TV that year; and, of course, the entire project was carried through a dynamic and character-defining performance from Charlie Cox.

All of these components helped create a series that was fearlessly passionate, both in anger and love, and as brutal emotionally as it was in its artful violence. "Daredevil" leapt to heights Marvel has yet to reach since, and is the best Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show ever made.