Prime Video’s New Superhero Show That Dethroned The Boys Deserves Its Streaming Success

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While The Boys rightfully earned its incredible viewership, the show that took its place at the top of Prime Video’s charts deserves its success too. The Boys concluded in May 2026 after seven seasons, and although some viewers debated certain plot points in the finale, critics generally praised the ending. Despite any imperfections, The Boys is a brilliant and groundbreaking satirical series that redefined the superhero genre and inspired other creators to be more innovative.

Since 2019, Hollywood has delivered a wave of new superhero stories for both movies and television, many of which deliberately challenged the traditional formulas of Marvel and DC. While some attempts, like the brief foray into superpowers on the show Riverdale, felt forced, others successfully reinvented the genre. Films such as Deadpool & Wolverine, and series like Invincible, Harley Quinn, Jupiter’s Legacy, The Boys’ spin-offs, Gen V, I’m A Virgo, and The Penguin have entertained audiences while also offering fresh and unexpected takes on the superhero concept.

It’s not surprising that the show now topping Prime Video’s charts – surpassing even The Boys – is another edgy, unconventional superhero story: Spider-Noir. Inspired by the Spider-Man Noir comics, the series is set in 1930s New York City and features Nicholas Cage as Ben Reilly, a former masked hero known as The Spider. Now an aging private investigator, Ben is pulled back into his dangerous past – and the Spider persona – when a new case unexpectedly connects to it.

Spider-Noir Earned Its Number One Spot On Prime Video

Spider-Noir successfully combines the classic feel of 1940s detective stories and pulp novels with the excitement of a superhero tale. It carefully captures the mood, setting, and look of those old films. What’s great is you can watch it in either black and white, for a truly authentic noir experience, or in color as a more traditional, though dark, comic book adventure – much like how some enjoy The Penguin, it offers both options.

Prime Video’s most-watched list recently saw a shake-up: while the new romance series Off Campus climbed to number 2, Spider-Noir took the top spot for a full week immediately after The Boys finished its season. The success of Spider-Noir feels natural, considering the existing popularity of superhero content. Even before The Boys premiered in 2019, superhero movies and shows were already incredibly popular. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was dominating theaters, and films like Deadpool (2016) and Logan (2017) had already demonstrated that mature, action-packed superhero stories could attract a wide audience.

Spider-Noir’s Prime Video Success Proves One Superhero Trend Isn’t Dead

Although some earlier superhero movies contained a lot of violence, they generally stuck to familiar storylines. What The Boys really did was inspire bigger superhero productions to take more risks and explore stranger, more self-aware, and experimental ideas. We’re now seeing a wave of shows like Invincible, I’m A Virgo, and Spider-Noir that break away from typical origin stories and predictable hero narratives.

Lately, there’s been a lot of experimentation with unusual and different takes on superhero stories. It’s become so common that James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie was actually praised by some for being a straightforward, classic superhero film. While there’s room for both kinds of stories, the popularity of Spider-Noir after the finale of The Boys suggests that the superhero genre isn’t finished with taking creative risks.

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2026-06-01 19:48