Streaming tips

Oddball superheroes...

Peacemaker

John Cena’s knucklehead of a superhero, who carries out assassinations in the name of peace, has landed his own series after being introduced in last summer’s The Suicide Squad. James Gunn directs, creating, thus far, a generic mix of humor and comicbook action. HBO Max

Naomi

She’s not from Krypton, but the Black teenager played by Kaci Walfall in this new CW series has plenty in common with Superman, including superpowers. Ava DuVernay developed the show, whose episodes are available to stream for free a day after their cable debut. CWtv.com

The Umbrella Academy

My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way wrote the comic-book series—about a group of misfits raised as foster children by a wealthy Professor X–like figure; the show has heaps of style and wry humor, and really found itself in 2020 during its second season. Netflix

Doom Patrol

This overlooked but ongoing series, which originated on DC’s defunct streaming service in 2019, focuses on its own alliance of offbeat superheroes. Its biggest strength is the cast, featuring Timothy Dalton, Brendan Fraser, and Diane Guerrero. HBO Max

Raising Dion

Many 7-year-olds dream of acquiring superpowers. Dion Warren has them. This excellent series focused in Season 1 on the challenges of raising such a child, with Alisha Wainwright as Dion’s widowed young mother. Season 2 arrives next month. Netflix

Legion

Sorry, WandaVision. Legion still ranks as the most inventive Marvel series to date. The story of David Haller, a mutant who believes that his hallucinatory visions were schizophrenia-induced, is brilliantly demented. Hulu