Best Shows Like The Flash to Watch for More Superhero Action - Collider.com

As superheroes go, the Flash has always been one of the most popular and The CW's The Flash TV show has only boosted his popularity. The DC hero's adventures have fascinated fans for years and provided some great entertainment for all.

The Flash's cast list over the seasons has included a number of great actors including Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Rick Cosnett, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Keiynan Lonsdale, Neil Sandilands, Danielle Nicolet, and Jessica Parker Kennedy, among others. Not to mention Grant Gustin, who leads the show as Barry Allen / The Flash.

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns and based on the DC Comics stories, The Flash is by far one of the most beloved shows in The CW's Arrowverse. And if you're excited about The Flash Season 8, we've got a list of similar shows that you can check out for more sci-fi superhero fun. So let's get into it, shall we?

Arrow

You can't explore the Arrowverse without Arrow. That's just how it works. The show that started it all, Arrow is the story of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), a billionaire playboy who was shipwrecked on an island where he learned the skills that transformed him into the world's greatest archer. Five years later, he returns to his city to use his newly-acquired skills in a vigilante mission to rid his home of the people who have infested it with corruption and decay.

Arrow's eight-season run transformed how people see superhero shows and spawned the now-massive library of DC shows on The CW. Even The Flash started out with an appearance in Arrow's second season before it became its own show.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

legends-of-tomorrow-social — Image via The CW

The first truly original Arrowverse show, DC's Legends of Tomorrow took all the supporting characters from the mainline DC shows on The CW and put them together for a crazy time-traveling adventure. While that's how it started out, Legends of Tomorrow is now one of the most exciting shows in the Arrowverse, pushing limits with each new season.

For fans of The Flash, the show has featured a number of beloved characters from the show including Captain Cold / Leonard Snart (Wentworth Miller), Heat Wave / Mick Rory (Dominic Purcell), and Kid Flash / Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale). It's a crazy, hilarious, and heartfelt show that's a totally rewarding watch once you get past the first season, which is pretty much the only time the show takes itself seriously.

Agents of SHIELD

When it started out, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD was essentially a sci-fi spy series that happened to inhabit the same world as the MCU superheroes. The superpowers and related shenanigans came later. By the time the series reached its finale, however, it had evolved into a whole world of its own with some great storylines and endearing characters.

The Flash is home to some of the best sci-fi within the Arrowverse so if you like that aspect of the show, Agents of SHIELD is going to be right up your alley. With a brilliant cast including Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain de Caestecker, Henry Simmons, and Brett Dalton, among others, it's a lovely watch that will keep you entertained for hours. Agents of SHIELD has seven seasons, all of which are currently available on Disney+.

Young Justice

On paper, Young Justice is about a team of young heroes who are all sidekicks of Justice League members. Kind of like the Teen Titans but with more brooding (and surprisingly least of all by Robin). But in practice, the show is its own take on the whole world of DC, with interesting takes on all the most beloved heroes and villains in the comic book giant's stable.

Kid Flash's time on The Flash was memorable, if short, but Young Justice has arguably the best take on the character across the many adaptations that exist of him. Wally West (voiced by Jason Spisak) is the heart of the team and one of the most delightful characters to watch and fans of the young hero would not be disappointed with the show. Young Justice: Phantoms, the series' fourth and current season, is now airing on HBO Max.

Misfits

This British superhero dramedy is a highly underrated show that might just surprise you. Misfits is the story of a group of young delinquents on community service who gain powers from a freak electrical storm. Yes, the origin story is a lot like The Flash but things quickly get crazier from there. Misfits is silly and dark in equal proportions with some great performances.

The show stars Antonia Thomas, Iwan Rheon, Lauren Socha, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Robert Sheehan in the first season. From there, the cast list goes through a number of changes with actors leaving and joining the show throughout its five seasons. But all the characters earn a place in your heart if you give them a chance and while it has its issues, Misfits is an entertaining take on the superhero genre that you should check out. In the US, all five seasons of the show are currently available for streaming on Hulu.

What If...?

One of the things that The Flash introduced to the Arrowverse was the concept of the multiverse. In that regard, it has a bit in common with What If...?, which did the same thing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or Multiverse).

The animated series looks at possible realities where one small change in the stories we know lead to massive consequences for the world at large, each episode chronicling a new branch of the multi-verse. It's an intriguing show with some interesting storylines and a brilliant watch for all fans of superhero media. The first season of What If...? Is currently on Disney+ and a second season is scheduled to air in 2022.

Smallville

Even before the Arrowverse, there have been some great adaptations of DC characters on television. Probably the most popular DC show from the pre-Arrow era was Smallville, a campy, fun romp that looks at the years before Clark Kent became the boy scout in blue tights that we know and love.

Starring Tom Welling as Clark, Smallville was the first step into the world of DC for a lot of fans. Its ten-season run is still a delightfully nostalgic watch for those who grew up with the show. Even though the series spent ten years building up to show Superman be Superman, the journey is worth it even if the destination is nothing surprising. Smallville is a milestone in the history of superhero shows and Flash fans could have a lot of fun with this series.

Honorable Mention: The Flash (1990)

There was no way we were going to do this list without at least mentioning the OG Flash TV show. The 1990 series The Flash only ran for one season but it was a direct inspiration for The CW series. There's a whole bunch of references to the show in the Arrowverse Flash, not least of which is the appearance of John Wesley Shipp.

Shipp played Barry Allen in the '90s show and appears in a recurring role as Barry's father, Henry Allen, in the Arrowverse. And later on, The Flash also introduces Jay Garrick, an alternate-Earth version of the Flash who is also played by Shipp. If you do want to watch the show, it's unfortunately unavailable for streaming at the moment so you'll have to buy it on Amazon, Google Play, or Vudu. As inconvenient as that might be, considering how The CW show pays tribute to the original, any fan of Grant Gustin's Flash ought to check out the speedster who ran before him.

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About The Author

Remus Noronha (72 Articles Published)

Remus is a freelance resource writer at Collider. He’s a writer, journalist, and author who dreams of one day creating the greatest X-Men comic book of all time. Until that day, he’s happy to write about movies and TV shows, with a particular interest in sci-fi and pop culture. In his spare time, he cooks, reads books, researches obscure trivia, and makes plans for world domination. That last one’s a secret, shh!