When it comes to superhero stories, some of the best always come in the form of coming-of-age plots. To see a hero grow up as they manage being a superhero is always entertaining. People enjoy characters like Spider-Man so much because of this in particular. Coming-of-age stories have always been relatable, as everyone goes through growing pains and wish they could be a superhero.
Some of the best coming-of-age plots have been on television, because of the amount of time that audiences get to typically spend with the main characters. It gives people time to experience the issues of growing up as their life plays out, and the more time that they get to spend with a protagonist, the closer they grow to them. There have been some amazing superhero television series that perfectly adapt coming-of-age stories—animated or live-action—that make them unforgettable.
10
‘Danny Phantom’ (2004–2007)
Young Danny Fenton (David Kaufman) was just 14 when his parents built a very strange machine, designed to view a world unseen— you know the story. When this young man becomes a half-ghost—of which he can transform at will—he dedicates this secret side of himself to hunting down the many evil ghosts that escaped his parents’ machine when he was transformed.
Danny Phantom tells Danny’s story in such an entertaining way, with some incredibly unique powers in comparison to other heroes like Spider-Man. The hero’s middle ground existence between human and ghost acts as a perfect metaphor of the time between childhood and adulthood as a teenager. Having powers that can parallel a hero’s personal experiences always makes for good storytelling.
9
‘Smallville’ (2001–2011)
Everyone pretty much knows Superman as a character that is an adult, as it’s all he’s really been depicted as (for the most part). What Smallville does that makes it so special in comparison is putting Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in high school and following his life far before he officially became Superman.
Smallville has the huge advantage of following pretty much every single year of his life prior to his adult years as Superman, thanks to the fact that the show got to go on for an entire decade. This gave the writers numerous years and episodes to put Clark through significant growth, explore his many friendships and enemies, as well as show how he developed his powers.
8
‘Ben 10: Alien Force’ (2008–2010)
Everyone who’s anyone knows who Ben Tennyson (Tara Strong and Yuri Lowenthal) is. The young boy who discovered the Omnitrix—an alien watch that can turn him into any one of 1,000,912 alien heroes—has grown up quite a bit since he was 10 years old by the time people meet him again in Ben 10: Alien Force, the second series in the franchise. After Grandpa Max Tennyson (Paul Eiding) disappears, Ben decides to put the watch on again after taking it off many years ago, which incites an adventure with new aliens, new villains, and an all-new Ben.
Being 15 years old now, the young man has matured quite a bit, with lots of room for growth. He may have had some good evolution in the first show, Ben 10, but he gets way more opportunities to grow in Ben 10: Alien Force. With the storytelling maturing quite a bit since the first installment, the character arcs Ben gets to experience are a lot more compelling in how much growth they allow for him as he begins to go from a boy to a man.
7
‘Invincible’ (2021–Present)
Based on the hit Robert Kirkman comic book, creator of The Walking Dead, Invincible has pretty quickly become one of the most popular shows on streaming at the moment. The iconic animated show has taken over the planet, and with Season 4 having just wrapped up, the hype for the show is greater than ever. When Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) gets powers and discovers he’s half-Viltrumite—a species that is pretty much the definition of evil—he must juggle becoming a man while being the one and only— cue title card.
Invincible sometimes struggles in the animation department, which is where most complaints come from, but that doesn’t stop it from being an excellently-written coming-of-age series. Part of what makes this story so compelling is the fact that Mark is depicted as a far-from-perfect guy. He struggles with some intense things that many would genuinely struggle with, like whether killing is okay or not, if it benefits the greater good. The relatability that Invincible brings forth helps people understand the hero even more than most.
6
‘Gen V’ (2023–2025)
One of the biggest shocks of 2026’s TV space, so far, is the cancellation of Gen V. Fans truly adored this coming-of-age show, taking place in the universe of The Boys. Gen V was so well-written that some genuinely consider it to be better than The Boys, at times. The characters in this college-based show are excellently executed, and keep audiences wishing they could see more of them. Taking place at the college, Godolkin University, it manages to relate to a demographic that often doesn’t get depicted in major superhero coming-of-age stories: the college years of one’s life.
Much like The Boys, this series is raw, real, and doesn’t hold any punches. What sets the story of this project apart, though, is that, much like Smallville, it depicts these young people attempting to learn about and master their powers as they grow into themselves, using their powers as metaphors for their journeys and character arcs.
5
‘Batman Beyond’ (1999–2001)
Everyone loves Batman, but nobody could have expected to see the character in a coming-of-age environment. With the Caped Crusader’s story always featuring him leaving Gotham City to train himself after his parents’ deaths, it feels almost impossible to do a coming-of-age Batman story without changing the origin quite a bit. However, Batman Beyond made the smart choice of providing one that doesn’t feature Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) as the protagonist, but a newer, teen hero, Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) taking on the mantle after Bruce decides he’s grown too old to continue his crime fighting.
With a high-tech suit and the entire futuristic Gotham City at his fingertips, Terry becomes Batman with enthusiasm and spunk. He’s headstrong and lighthearted, which makes it feel super special in comparison to all other Batman media. Watching a Dark Knight with a coming-of-age story is unlike any other media featuring the character, which makes this show more than worth a watch.
4
‘My Hero Academia’ (2016–2025)
In recent decades, anime has begun to truly take over the West and prove itself to even be better than Western media a lot of the time, too. Shows like My Hero Academia are proof of this. This show—based on the manga brought to life by Kohei Horikoshi—is a spectacular watch with gorgeous animation, incredible character writing, and a story that is the definition of a good coming-of-age tale as the young Izuku Midoriya (Daiki Yamashita and Justin Briner) gets everything he’s wished for when the world’s greatest hero, All Might (Kenta Miyake and Christopher Sabat) passes his power down to him.
My Hero Academia may have Izuku as its primary protagonist, but it follows the entire class of young heroes, Class 1-A. So not only does his coming-of-age story get depicted, but so do the ones surrounding his awesome, diverse classmates. Most notable of the bunch is Katsuki Bakugo (Nobuhiko Okamoto and Clifford Chapin), who arguably has one of the best redemption arcs in modern television. The variety of characters in his class makes for a variety of coming-of-age arcs.
3
‘Teen Titans’ (2003–2006)
One of the greatest DC Comics animated series ever made is, without a doubt, Teen Titans. This group of teenagers taking on some amazing stories and villains makes for a show unlike any other. Following the likes of Robin (Scott Menville), Starfire (Hynden Walch), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Raven (Tara Strong), and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), Teen Titans shows the Titans facing many villains like the ever-iconic Deathstroke (Ron Perlman)—known in the series as “Slade”.
What makes Teen Titans so entertaining and effective is the fact that it balances tone so dang well. It maintains a lighthearted, anime-inspired tone and art style, while still managing to jump into deep, heavy, and emotional tones and stories when it needs to. Despite being so fun, it tackles ideas like the likes of PTSD—via Robin’s issues with seeing a Slade that isn’t there after his issues facing him.
2
‘Young Justice’ (2010–2022)
Much like Teen Titans, Young Justice follows a group of teenage sidekicks—some of DC Comics’ greatest—as they come together to form a team. Made up of the likes of Robin (Jesse McCartney), Kid Flash (Jason Spisak), Artemis (Stephanie Lemelin), Aqualad (Khary Payton), Miss Martian (Danica McKellar), and Superboy (Nolan North)—with more coming in as the series goes on—the team is absurdly well-written, with each of the team members representing a part of growing up. They take on some great foes and stories from across the DC Comics mythos, which makes this such an entertaining show.
Unlike Teen Titans, though, Young Justice takes a far more mature approach to storytelling. While it does have a lot of fun and includes lighthearted moments, Young Justice takes itself a lot more seriously than the previous sidekick-based show, and that leads to a lot of phenomenal character development as they continue to grow up out of their high school years and into their young adult years.
1
‘The Spectacular Spider-Man’ (2008–2009)
Ask any superhero fan, and they will tell you that The Spectacular Spider-Man is not only one of the greatest adaptations of the Web-Slinger, but one of the greatest superhero series ever made. Following Spider-Man (Josh Keaton) in his high school years, The Spectacular Spider-Man shows just how hard it is to be a superhero and a teenager. His two lives continuously get in the way of each other, which is part of what has made the character of Spider-Man so compelling over the years.
Spidey not only struggles with the concepts of identity, nature vs. nuture, and more, but Peter Parker also struggles with things like relationship issues, money troubles, and the all-around depression of having his two lives so contradicting of each other. The way all of these issues are handled, despite being a show meant for younger audiences, is with grace and seriousness. The showrunners don’t doubt the audience’s intelligence and that makes the stories told beyond engaging and engrossing.
The Spectacular Spider-Man
- Release Date
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2008 – 2009-00-00
- Directors
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Victor Cook, Jennifer Coyle, Dave Bullock, Troy Adomitis, Dan Fausett, Kevin Altieri, Michael Goguen
