From the beginning of the modern era of cinematic superheroes the launch of the
X-Men film franchise the struggle for viable live-action TV incarnations of these same heroes was an uphill battle. Following the blockbuster success of
Iron Man and the subsequent development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was a natural expectation that audiences’ appetite for larger-than-life stories of mutant powers and struggles between good and evil would translate smoothly to the small screen. Instead both network and cable television struggled for years with how to integrate superhero storytelling into the medium. With
Heroes’ creative collapse after a single season, TV continually tried and failed to replicate the model of cinematic superhero narratives.