10 Best Marvel TV Shows Not In The MCU

The MCU is still pushing forward, with plans to move on to MCU Phase Zero after the next two Avengers movies. However, Marvel shows that currently exist outside the MCU are just as entertaining. The comic book producer dominated animation starting in the early 90s. Plus, there have been some epic live-action shows centering on Marvel characters. While there were plenty of amazing choices to select from, these are the ten best non-MCU shows under the Marvel brand.

10 X-Men: The Gifted

The live-action X-Men TV show The Gifted follows a suburban family, the Struckers, who discover that their children are mutants, putting them at risk. They join an underground community of mutants to survive. The TV show only lasted two seasons before Fox canceled it, but it was still extremely entertaining.

X-Men: The Gifted relies on lesser-known comic book characters, which is refreshing, since most on-screen X-Men adaptations feature big-name characters like Magneto and Cyclops. They did a good job bringing characters like Polaris and Thunderbird to life. Despite those characters not appearing, the show still dives into the typical X-Men themes of discrimination and othering. The story is very character-driven, focusing on human experiences rather than a bigger threat and CGI battles.

9 Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Unlike other animated Disney+ Marvel shows, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man doesn’t tie into the Sacred timeline. Instead, it exists in an alternate reality with traits similar to the MCU without being beholden to all of its stories. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in a world where Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider from another world. However, he is forced to move to Rockford T. Bales High School after Midtown High gets destroyed. As such, he becomes friends with Nico Minoru and Lonnie Larken.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is enjoyable because it makes the most of its creative freedom. The audience gets new character designs and dynamics. Lonnie, Nico, and Peter are a compelling trio. There’s more of a focus on Peter Parker as a neighborhood hero, rather than the protégé of a billionaire.

8 Guardians Of The Galaxy

Season 1 of the Guardians of the Galaxy TV show follows the titular, newly formed team as they find a map to the Cosmic Seed, a weapon capable of creating a new universe. It expands in subsequent seasons to include other artifacts and universe-threatening dangers.

The Guardians of the Galaxy animated series has similar character designs and spirit to the movies, creating familiarity, but their personalities differ. They lean into the comic book lore, such as Peter Quill being J'son's son. They have a cast who excels in voice acting, which makes it easier to invest in the characters. Ultimately, the storyline and character dynamics are worth watching, even if the animation is lackluster.

7 Marvel’s Hit-Monkey

From 2021 to 2024, Marvel put out the animated TV show Hit-Monkey on Hulu, and it’s unbelievably entertaining. Monkey, a Japanese macaque, is mentored by the ghost of the American assassin Bryce Fowler as he becomes the mercenary assassin Hit-Monkey. He becomes involved in the underground criminal spaces in Tokyo and New York City. There is so much to love about Marvel’s Hit-Monkey.

The Hit-Monkey animation looks fantastic, with a heavily stylized appearance that leans into grimy, wonderfully brutal violence. The script features sharp, sardonic humor and a deeper emotional storyline. Bryce and Hit-Monkey are a dynamic duo, bouncing off each other well. Plus, the cast is stacked with A-list actors, including Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Munn, who are actually capable of voice acting, which isn’t always the case.

6 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might seem like a strange choice for a non-MCU list, but Marvel softly decanonized it in the book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, confirming that the show’s its own thing. However, it still has fantastic elements of the MCU, such as using Winter Soldier as a jumping-off point and centering Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson. It still diverges, though, creating its own identity.

The characters expand from basic archetypes into fully-fleshed-out individuals with backstories, insecurities, and opinions. What’s more, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. takes bold risks, such as Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. and time loops. Rather than taking itself too seriously, the TV show embraces the weirdness of the Marvel comic books.

5 The Spectacular Spider-Man

Many animated Spider-Man TV shows exist, but The Spectacular Spider-Man is the best of the best, with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Spider-Man: The Animated Series close behind. The story follows Peter Parker, a 16-year-old teenager who tries to balance high school, romances, and a part-time job with his duties as a superhero. The story starts just months after the spider gives Peter Parker powers. There’s so much to love about The Spectacular Spider-Man, from the characters to the animation.

The writers on The Spectacular Spider-Man did a fantastic job showing Peter Parker as a teenager who has to deal with homework, curfews, and a lack of money. He has limitations. The TV show uses a combination of villains of the week and overarching big bads, keeping things interesting. On top of that, the supporting characters, like Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn, are three-dimensional.

4 X-Men ‘97

X-Men: The Animated Series deserves credit for laying the foundation for X-Men ‘97. It introduced the characters and the basic animation style. The original show was meant for kids, and Marvel aged up the revival to cater to its original audience. However, X-Men ‘97 is better than the original in many ways.

The new show leans much more into the comic book storylines and soap-opera style. The original comics also made important commentary about prejudice, discrimination, and found family. While the original downplayed these themes, the Disney+ series embraces them. Plus, the show's events actually have stakes and long-lasting consequences. Aside from the actual story, the animation is more vibrant and dynamic while still staying true to the 90s character designs. The scripts are tighter and more connected across episodes.

3 Legion

The X-Men TV show Legion is deeply underrated, but it’s one of the best Marvel shows that doesn’t exist in the MCU. It centers on David Haller, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia, who discovers, after an interaction with another patient named Syd, that his symptoms are actually caused by him unknowingly being a psychic mutant. Unfortunately, a psychic parasite called the Shadow King has also been haunting him for his whole life.

Legion is deeply trippy, psychedelic, and surrealist. The format breaks down typical superhero stories by jumping around in the timeline and incorporating musical numbers. On top of that, the costume styles feel exceptionally theatrical. The phenomenal performances from Dan Stevens and Aubrey Plaza are the cherry on top of an already wonderful sundae.

2 Spider-Noir

Spider-Noir debuted in 2026 and immediately became a fan favorite. The story follows Ben Reilly, a jaded private detective and former superhero called The Spider, living in 1930s New York City. He must take his superhero persona back on after he takes on a case that connects to the mob. Everything about Spider-Noir is top-notch.

Nicolas Cage was the perfect choice to play Ben Reilly, aka the Spider, and it was smart for them to separate Spider-Noir from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Rather than adapting the obvious villains, Spider-Noir brings less prominent Spider-Man villains to the screen. The visuals are absolutely captivating, blending together noir visuals and character archetypes with modern cinematography elements. What’s more, they decided to film in both black and white and full color, both of which are striking.

1 Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a brilliant animated Marvel TV show, and it’s one that every comic book fan should watch. The story starts with 74 supervillains escaping from high security prisons, and the Avengers must work to recapture them. However, it expands past this premise in season 2, keeping things fresh and entertaining. The animation looks surprisingly solid nowadays, even though it was made in the early 2010s.

This Avengers TV show draws many of its stories directly from Marvel comic books, with them pulling significant arcs like Secret Invasion and Ultron Unlimited. There’s no filler, with every episode having an impact. Many of the villains are better in animation than in the MCU. On top of that, the storytelling focuses just as much on character development as it does on high-concept stories, making it emotionally impactful.