Prime Video’s Invincible has become the defining superhero animated series of its generation, sustaining a level of critical momentum that few shows in any genre can match. Based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book run of the same name, the show follows Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun), a teenager who inherits godlike powers from his father, Omni-Man (voiced by J.K. Simmons), only to discover that the legacy attached to those powers is soaked in blood. The series built its reputation through a willingness to treat superhero violence with genuine consequence, pairing brutal action sequences with character work sophisticated enough to sustain eight planned seasons. Season 4, which launched this month, received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and since Season 5 has already been confirmed by Prime Video, Invincible shows no signs of slowing down.
Invincible occupies a very particular intersection of prestige animation, superhero mythology, and unapologetic brutality that not many shows tap. So, while Prime Video is also home to the R-rated superhero drama The Boys, fans looking for their next binge might be inclined to expand the search toward other platforms. Whether through dysfunctional hero ensembles, morally bankrupt protagonists, or animation that treats violence as a choreographic art form, several Netflix originals scratch the same itch that Invincible has been scratching on Prime Video.
5) The Umbrella Academy
Image courtesy of Netflix
The Umbrella Academy operates on the premise that superpowers produce trauma, instead of heroes. The series follows seven adoptive siblings, each born with a different extraordinary ability, who are raised by a cold and methodical billionaire to function as a superhero team. The dysfunction that results from that upbringing drives every season, as the siblings repeatedly fail to communicate, betray each other’s trust, and inadvertently cause the apocalyptic threats they are trying to prevent. The show’s tonal range is genuinely unusual for the genre, pivoting from emotional devastation to absurdist comedy within a single episode without losing dramatic credibility.
Based on Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comic series and created for television by Steve Blackman, The Umbrella Academy ran for four seasons before concluding in 2024 with a shortened six-episode final chapter. The ensemble also benefits from a cast committed to treating ridiculous material with total sincerity, which transforms what could have been a gimmick premise into a character study about how extraordinary circumstances destroy ordinary people. Fans of Invincible‘s dysfunctional family dynamics will find familiar territory here.
4) Blue Eye Samurai
Image courtesy of Netflix
Blue Eye Samurai is one of the finest pieces of adult animation Netflix has ever produced. The show follows Mizu (voiced by Maya Erskine), a mixed-race swordswoman in Edo-period Japan who disguises herself as a man while methodically hunting the four white men responsible for the circumstances of her birth. The series won four Emmy Awards following its 2023 debut, with the creative team staging action choreography using the same principles applied to live-action fight sequences, resulting in combat scenes that carry genuine physical consequence.
Every narrative element of Blue Eye Samurai feeds into a central portrait of a person marked by rage and purpose in equal measure, and the period setting allows the show to explore gender, identity, and systemic injustice without the detachment of allegory. Finally, Blue Eye Samurai is relentless in the best possible sense, as it commits completely to its protagonist’s worldview and never softens the cost of her choices. Season 2, which will take Mizu to London, is currently expected to arrive on Netflix in 2027.
3) Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Image Courtesy of Netflix
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a ten-episode sprint through corporate dystopia and personal disintegration, produced by Studio Trigger and set in the same universe as CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. The series follows David Martinez (voiced by Zach Aguilar), a Night City teenager who survives a violent attack by installing black-market military cyberware into his body, then escalates his augmentations to survive the mercenary underworld he enters.
Studio Trigger’s visual language is relentlessly kinetic, deploying animation that pushes physical momentum to a point where action sequences feel genuinely dangerous. This aesthetic commitment to consequence-driven violence is the clearest bridge to Invincible, where every punch lands with a weight that most superhero properties deliberately obscure. Beyond the stylistic overlap, both shows are fundamentally about young men who acquire extraordinary physical power before they possess the emotional maturity to understand what that power costs.
2) Castlevania
Image Courtesy of Netflix
Castlevania established that a video game adaptation could function as prestige television without sacrificing the visceral energy of the source material. The series opens with Dracula (voiced by Graham McTavish) declaring war on humanity following the execution of his wife, then tracks the reluctant alliance between Trevor Belmont (voiced by Richard Armitage), the last of a disgraced monster-hunting lineage, and Alucard (voiced by James Callis), Dracula’s half-human son.
The animation of Castlevania, handled by Powerhouse Animation, treats combat as a form of visual storytelling, with each fight sequence communicating something specific about the psychology of the characters involved. However, what separates the series from other adult animation projects is its political intelligence, as the show spends considerable time building a genuine case for Dracula’s grievance before dismantling it, producing a villain whose logic is coherent even as his methods are monstrous. The extended universe also expanded through the sequel series Castlevania: Nocturne in 2023, giving viewers a substantial library of interconnected content that rewards sustained investment.
1) Arcane
Image courtesy of Netflix
Arcane is the standard against which every other animated streaming series will be measured for the foreseeable future. Produced by Riot Games and French studio Fortiche, the show is set in the cities of Piltover and Zaun and follows the fractured relationship between sisters Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (voiced by Ella Purnell) against a backdrop of class war, technological exploitation, and institutional corruption. The visual approach is unlike anything else in mainstream animation, blending painterly textures with fluid three-dimensional movement to create a distinct aesthetic that carries an enormous emotional weight.
Netflix released the second and final season of Arcane in 2024, completing a story that managed to function simultaneously as a political allegory, a family tragedy, and a superhero deconstruction. The connection to Invincible is most apparent in how both shows refuse to let their heroes remain uncomplicated, as every character in Arcane is shaped by systems larger than themselves, and every act of heroism carries a cost that the narrative refuses to discount. For viewers who want the full emotional ambition that Invincible operates at, Arcane is the best option, with the additional advantage of being superior on the animation front.
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