Much like Superhero Films, superhero shows also tend to face the brunt of this. There's a common stigma of associating anything superhero-related as being perfectly OK for kids, possibly because many of these franchises, especially the works of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, have been heavily marketed to children, mainly through merchandising and animated television series. However, there are some superhero shows that are very much not aimed at children.
open/close all folders
DC Comics
- Lobo (Webseries) is loaded with graphic violence, fictional and real cursing, substance abuse and raunchy jokes due to the TV-MA rating. Almost all of the aliens bleed red and Lobo can regenerate himself with organs showing after a brutal hit. One story arc had Lobo and Sunny Jim making a bet to see which one could have sex with Darlene Spritzer first. It doesn't help that children's cartoon voice actors Greg Eagles, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey DeLisle, Dee Bradley Baker and Tom Kenny all voiced in it and that Lobo appeared in family-friendly cartoons such as Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Action as well as toys and video games geared towards children. It was originally going to be a family friendly cartoon on Kids WB before DC decided that making a kid-friendly show based on an adult oriented character is problematic.
- The second scene of the very first episode had Lobo pass by an exercizing alien, go back to him and shoot his head with blood and eyeballs gushing.
- Titans (2018) may be part of a franchise that's commonly thought of as lighthearted due to multiple animated series, but kid-friendly it is not. Just the first trailer alone features a dark and brooding atmosphere, people getting mangled, snapped, sliced, burned alive, and Robin himself drops the F-bomb. The fact that it's compared to the Netflix MCU and was originally going on TNT should give you a good idea that it was never meant for kids to begin with. It's rated TV-MA for a reason.
- The same goes for its spinoff, Doom Patrol (2019), what with its bizarre metaphysical concepts for villains, explicit sex, and depictions of psychological abuse and drug addiction. If anything, it's even more adult than Titans.
- Harley Quinn (2019) contains tons of F-bombs, sexual content and lots of violence. It's rated TV-MA and is airing on the Canadian [adult swim] and Max, not Cartoon Network.
- The first three episodes alone of Season 2 contain multiple examples of Family-Unfriendly Violence; including people being stabbed or shot to death with visible blood getting spilled, and a teenage girl getting her face burned off by a monster (though fortunately, she instantly and completely regenerates from her injuries, but it was still a very gruesome sight).
- Gotham was inexplicably nominated for a Kids Choice Awards despite being a TV-14 series full of violence, sex, and Nightmare Fuel. It probably was nominated due to the popularity of Batman.
Marvel Comics
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., despite being in the same continuity the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which despite having some more adult moments, is generally family-friendly), has a much different tone. Murder, sex, Government corruption, and lots of Nightmare Fuel is a regular part of the show. Despite this, Agent Coulson, Fitz, and Simmons have all appeared in the Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) TV show, which is aimed at kids, while an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. DLC pack featuring the cast of the show was released for LEGO Marvel's Avengers. All that said, S.H.I.E.L.D. has always aired with a TV-14 rating and stayed within the parameters of what regular network TV requires. The same cannot be said for the MCU-based shows produced for streaming platforms such as Netflix, due to their ratings being either TV-14 or TV-MA.
- This is one of the major reasons why Jessica Jones (2015) was in Development Hell for so long. Melissa Rosenberg wanted the series to be appropriately Darker and Edgier to reflect its source material, but none of the networks were interested in a superhero show that dealt with the gritty subject matter she was pitching. It eventually got picked up by Netflix, which is known for its more mature content. Its primary themes include such cheery subjects as alcoholism, PTSD and rape, each of which are thoroughly explored and discussed to a disturbing degree. Like Daredevil (2015), it earned a TV-MA rating. There were eyebrows raised when the first episode of the series - which included violence and sex scenes - was shown at a New York Comic Con event attended by parents with children. To be fair, parents were given the option to leave with their kids before the screening began, but there were reports of some who didn't quite realize Marvel meant it when they said Jessica Jones was an adults-only series.
- Speaking of Daredevil (2015), to say that it earned its TV-MA rating would be a massive understatement. The level of violence in the series can be absolutely shocking at times, whether it be hearing Healy smash a guy's in with a bowling ball or seeing Wilson Fisk kill Anatoly by beating him unconscious and decapitating him with a car door. While on the topic, the LEGO Marvel's Avengers game is based on the MCU and has levels based on the various movies and TV shows. Despite this, the Daredevil and Jessica Jones series were not included, as Marvel felt they were inappropriate for children, but they do appear as playable characters.
- WandaVision pays a lot of homage to a bunch of family-friendly sitcoms throughout the decades. However, the show itself is a Horror Comedy that has the sitcom elements be Played for Horror, features two Jump Scares, and has a lot of Psychological Horror that makes viewers feel that something isn't right. Not to mention the entire show is about the main heroine grieving over the death of a loved one of hers.
- Oh look! What If…? (2021)! While an animated series set in the mostly family-friendly MCU might seem fine for children, many of the show's alternate universes are darker and more gruesome than even the darkest of the franchise's live action entries. In particular, the zombies episode, features many beloved characters dying horribly in surprisingly violent ways, including two bisections.
- This trope is the exact reason why, when Disney+ acquired the rights to the MCU Netflix titles, they instituted parental controls, as the MA-rated shows contain much more violence and sex than what would normally be allowed on the platform.
- The MCU’s Halloween Special Werewolf by Night (2022) pays homage to old horror specials that are viewed as family-friendly these days, and is mainly shot in black-and-white. However, it carries a TV-14 rating and is cross-rated at the equivalent in other countries, and it shows. The horror elements are coupled with a level of gore far surpassing the old horror shows it inspired and only rivaled by the MCU Netflix titles, with blood splattering the camera at multiple points.
Japanese series
- Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger is so rife with this (for further proof, see the 3rd episode of the first season), as the show is aired in the Otaku O'Clock timeslot. even the tagline says it:"Good kids, stay away from this show. Got it?"
- Violence-wise it's pretty much the same as regular Sentai, but things which wouldn't be kid-friendly include: The team getting drunk to power up, Red openly admitting to having a robot fetish, a monster which strips perverts naked, and the main villain of Season 2 suddenly crying out in orgasm from the sex he's having in the Delusion World.
- Kamen Rider, although being mainly marketed towards children, has two adult-oriented series that fit the bill:
- Kamen Rider Amazons is by a very long mile, the darkest, goriest and most adult entry in Kamen Rider franchise, so much so that it could make the Urobutcher's head explode from all the gorn and tragedy that pervades it. Being made by the staff members from the early Heisei-era entries, this one is Not Safe for Work to the point that it released on Amazon Prime, where watchers of the recent Heisei-era entries are a no-no.
- Kamen Rider BLACK SUN was also released as an Prime Video-exclusive due to some similar Amazons-levels of gore, as well as heavy references to political jargons and incredibly racist, ableist treatment of oppressed species.
- Although Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Series do have entries made for adults, Ultraman Nexus was a ratings failure for the very same "it must be for kids if it's from that creator!" reasons. Intended to be a completely Darker and Edgier Deconstruction reimagining of the Ultra Series and notorious as one of the darkest entries of the franchise, it got put on a Saturday morning kids' block due to Misaimed Marketing (Hey it's Ultraman, of course kids'll love it!), which resulted in abysmal ratings and the only case ever of an early cancellation for the Ultra Series.
Other
- Todd McFarlane's Spawn: According to Todd McFarlane, when he first started pitching an animated version of Spawn, the networks he talked to wanted to make a Saturday morning version. Right down to talking animal sidekick, though at that point he may have been being sarcastic in his recollections. It seemed none of the big-wigs realized that a character whose name was short for "Hellspawn" and who was horribly burnt head to toe and fought against multiple angels and devils across Earth, heaven and hell itself wasn't a good fit alongside the light-hearted fair common to those slots. Then again, when he finally got the nod from HBO, airing past-prime-time with numerous warnings of its content, people still complained that this 'kiddie cartoon' was so graphically violent and sexual, leaving him feeling like he never should have bothered in the first place. It doesn't help that Spawn has a family-friendly platform brawler for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as a bunch of toys aimed at kids. Ironically enough, Mac Farlane stated eventually that he plans on making 2 Spawn Series which ome being for kids while the other being for adults.
- Superhero Roommate: Just because it features a superhero and his friend is voiced by Flik's actor doesn't mean it's for children. There is some strong language and sexual humor.
- Super Models is fanservice mixed with superhero stories. It also has some cursing and censored nudity. It doesn't help that children's animation voice actors such as Kath Soucie, Grey DeLisle and Jim Ward voice the characters.
- The Boys (2019): With its shiny, high-budget look, it could be easily mistaken for an MCU tie-in, and that's kind of the point, but the "heroes" of this setting indulge in graphic sex, consensual and otherwise, graphic violence and murder abound, and white nationalism and its insidious nature is a key point of the second season and its main antagonist. It's telling that the first scene involves an incredibly graphic death, best to dispel any illusion about the show early.
- Invincible (2021) looks at first like a harmless, brightly-colored Saturday morning superhero cartoon for kids—and that's the point, because it makes the First-Episode Twist of Omni-Man, the series' Superman Substitute, brutally slaughtering his allies in cold blood all the more shocking. It starts out with a very familiar and seemingly predictable premise: a teenager develops superpowers, and now has to balance superhero life and high school life! But then it quickly turns extremely violent, extremely gory and very adult, with massive amounts of blood and guts along with some swearing and references to sex. The Prime Video page even has a warning specifically mentioning it's for adult audiences only despite being an animated series.
- The Boys: Diabolical: While the other shorts have more obvious plots and styles geared towards adults, the look and tone of "Laser Baby's Day Out" initially appears no different from its Animaniacs-inspired direction. However, its second half dramatically shifts into Black Comedy gore.
