It’s no secret that the superhero genre has taken the world by storm. It seems like every couple of weeks there is a new origin movie or a spin-off TV series. It was the same decades ago, with the original Batman and Superman franchises. There’s something for everyone in the superhero genre, from angst-filled anti-heroes to lovable superhero families. That’s what makes them so appealing.
Superhero families are more of a rarity in the genre, but they have a history, as well. Back in 1961, the Fantastic Four was introduced in Marvel Comics and dubbed “the first family.” Since then, the sub-genre has risen in popularity and has given us some of the best movie and television franchises to date.
Here are the most famous superhero families, ranked.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 The Hargreeves
Netflix
One of the more recent superhero families to grace our screens is the Hargreeves. In 2019, Netflix released The Umbrella Academy, a show that revolved around a group of seven unrelated foster children that were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, an eccentric billionaire. Sir Reginald Hargreeves knew that these children were born with supernatural gifts and planned to train them so that one day, they could save the world. The dysfunctional family includes Luther with super strength, Diego with object trajectory manipulation, Allison with mind control, Klaus with the ability to communicate with the dead, Number Five with space and time teleportation, Ben with the ability to summon tentacled monsters, and Vanya (in later seasons, Viktor), who can transform sound into a destructive force. The series begins with the siblings being forced to come together to investigate the death of their adopted father.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
The Umbrella Academy currently has three seasons on Netflix, with a fourth confirmed for release sometime in 2023.
6 The Shazam Family
Warner Bros. Pictures
Shazam! was released in theaters in 2019 and introduced not only the superhero who’s the namesake of the show, but an entire family of superheros. The movie revolves around Billy Batson, a 14-year-old boy who is a known flight risk to all of his foster homes until he is taken in by a couple with five other foster children, Victor and Rosa Vasquez. It’s while he’s with them that Billy is chosen to receive powers from a wizard that transforms him into an adult the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the power of Zeus, the stamina of Atlas, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. All he has to do is say the word, “Shazam.”
Soon, the family realizes that they can share the power of Shazam. They each transform into adults with a similar power set to Billy, but with a unique enhanced power for each of them. Darla specializes in speed, Eugene specializes in lightning, Pedro specializes in strength, Mary specializes in stamina, and Freddy hadsan affinity for flight. It becomes clear that Billy is no longer a lone superhero, but one in an equally balanced family of superheros.
5 The Maximoff Family
Disney Platform Distribution
Wanda Maximoff made her first appearance in the MCU in the mid-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014, but didn’t have a full role until Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015. Since then, she’s starred in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, What if…?, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
It was in WandaVision that Wanda became part of a family of superheros. While dealing with the grief from the events in Endgame, she creates a false reality that presents itself as various sitcoms, all of which involve her being married to Vision. As the series progresses, Vision and Wanda miraculously have twin boys that age unnaturally quickly named Tommy and Billy. It’s revealed that, like their parents, they also have superpowers. Billy shows the beginnings of telekinesis and telepathy, powers that are very similar to his mother’s. Tommy, on the other hand, inherits his uncle Quicksilver’s super speed. Combined with Wanda’s chaos magic and Vision’s manipulation of the powers of the mind stone, they are one extremely powerful family.
4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been one of the most iconic superhero families ever since their animated TV series by Playmate and Murakami-Wolf-Swenson aired in 1987. The brothers rose to popularity in the nineties with the extension of their franchise into new movies, TV series, video games, and even a stage musical.
The lovable family started out as four baby turtles who were exposed to radioactive waste. This turned them into turtle humanoids who could walk, talk, and most importantly, eat pizza. In the sewers underneath New York City, their adoptive father, a rat mutant named Splinter, taught them ninjutsu so that they could fight crime on the surface. Leonardo, the leader, is an expert swordsman and wields two katanas. Raphael is the strongest of the brothers and wields a pair of sai. Donatello is the most intelligent and wields a bo staff, in addition to creating gadgets for the family. Michelangelo is the fastest and wields a pair of nunchucks.
The TMNT brothers are most memorable for their big personalities and humor, making them a very fun superhero family to watch.
3 The Bat Family
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
The Bat Family, in both comics and movies, is vast and ever-changing. There are so many retellings and portrayals that it can be difficult to keep all of the characters straight! However, there are a couple of main family members that are almost always there to help the caped crusader in the cinematic universe.
The first member is, of course, Batman. Also known as Bruce Wayne, the billionaire took up the superhero mantle when his parents were killed in front of him as a child. He is well-known for his protective bat-suit, technologically advanced bat-mobile, and very specific bat-gadgets. Another member that has been there since the beginning is Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s butler. He has always acted as a father figure to Bruce, and when Bruce becomes Batman, Alfred supports his crime fighting endeavors from behind the scenes. Robin, typically also known as Dick Grayson, is Bruce’s adopted son and sidekick. He has a similar skill set to Batman with access to his gadgets, weapons, and martial arts training. Eventually, Dick decides to move on from being a sidekick and evolves into Nightwing.
Batgirl and Catwoman are also frequently involved in the Bat Family. Batgirl, or Barbara Gordon (excluding in Batman and Robin, where she is Barbara Wilson, Alfred’s niece), is Commissioner Gordon’s daughter turned superhero. Her skills are similar to Robin’s, with the addition of an eidetic memory. Catwoman, or Selina Kyle, is the on and off romantic interest of Batman. She starts out as a villain and thief, but eventually becomes a matriarch figure to the Bat Family. She is known for her agility and use of whip.
The Bat Family is one of the most dysfunctional, but they always keep things interesting.
2 The Fantastic Four
20th Century Fox
This superhero family’s most popular origin movie was Fantastic Four, released in 2005. The Fantastic Four, also known as Marvel’s first family, is a perfect example of superhero team that didn’t necessarily get to choose its members. While they all had previous connections with each other, it wasn’t intended that they would be granted powers against their will and be bound together as a team. They all were coincidentally brought together to visit a space station, where they were hit with a mysterious storm that transformed them into superheros.
Sue Storm and Johnny Storm are the two members of the family that are blood-related. Sue, also known as the Invisible Woman, gained the power of invisibility and manipulation of force fields. Her brother Johnny, also known as the Human Torch, received the ability to set himself on fire without harm and control fire that’s near him. Reed Richards, also known as Mister Fantastic, is the ex-boyfriend and eventual husband of Sue. He gained the ability to stretch out any part of his body to unnatural lengths. Finally, Ben Grimm, who is friends with Sue and Reed, turns into The Thing, an orange, rock-like creature with super strength and durability.
1 The Incredibles
DisneyPixar
When discussing superhero families, the first example that comes to mind is always the iconic Parr family. Introduced in The Incredibles, released in 2004, the Parr family has five members, all of which have unique superpowers of their own. In this universe, all superheros have been forced to live in hiding due to all of the damage they’ve done in the past. Helen and Bob were both heroes during the prime time of the “Supers,” and Bob finds it difficult to adjust to no longer being in the spotlight and having to put away his supersuit.
Helen, or Elastigirl, has the ability to stretch out and manipulate her body into different shapes. She’s married to Bob, also known as Mr. Incredible, who has super strength. Their daughter, Violet, has the ability to turn invisible and create force fields. Their son, Dash, has super speed. Finally, their youngest, Jack-Jack, was assumed to not have any powers. However, when he is left alone with his babysitter, he displays a multitude of varied powers that stresses her out. It’s not known if Jack-Jack will keep all of his powers, however. According to Edna in Incredibles 2, infant supers can start out with a variety of powers, but will lose some of them as they grow older.
