4-Season Superhero Series Returning Next Month Is The Incredibles Meets Sky High

A superhero TV series returning in September 2026 with a new expansion is the best combination of Pixar’s The Incredibles and Disney’s Sky High. The superhero genre has been dominated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC’s universes, but on TV, its reign goes beyond these major franchises. Shows like The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol, Watchmen, and The Boys have explored a darker side of superheroes, but there are other shows with a more family-friendly approach.

Shows like Teen Titans Go! and Henry Danger are some examples of superhero TV shows for younger audiences and with an overall family-friendly tone, with many of them either continuing their run or expanding with spinoffs and more. Falling into the latter category is The Thundermans, a live-action superhero comedy show created by Jed Spingarn. The Thundermans aired on Nickelodeon from 2013 to 2018 for four seasons, but its popularity led it to become a franchise.

The Thundermans brings together superheroes, family sitcom comedy, and a fun sibling dynamic along with lighthearted stories and action. The Thundermans feels like a perfect combination of the family dynamics of The Incredibles and the fun and humor of Sky High, and, despite the main show ending in 2018, this unique world is still very much alive, and it’s returning in September 2026.

The Thundermans Is A Surprisingly Large Franchise

The Thundermans introduces viewers to the title family: parents Hank and Barb, teenage twins Phoebe and Max, and youngest children Billy, Nora, and Chloe. All Thunderman family members have superpowers, such as super strength (Hank), control of electricity (Barb), telekinesis (Phoebe and Max), super speed (Billy), shooting laser beams from their eyes (Nora), and bubble-related powers (Chloe). The Thundermans try to live normal lives, but one of them isn’t entirely heroic.

While Phoebe aims to be a superhero and role model as one, Max wants to be the next big supervillain, and is even advised by supervillain Dr. Colosso, who has been transmogrified into a rabbit and lives in Max’s basement lair. The Thundermans covers the fight between good and evil with a lighthearted tone and a lot of humor, with family at its core as well as themes like identity, morality, and loyalty.

The Thundermans might not be a widely known superhero show, but it was consistently good and popular enough to spawn a franchise that is still going. The Thundermans returned in the 2024 movie appropriately titled The Thundermans Return, which served as a follow-up to the main show. In 2025, the franchise returned to TV with the spinoff sequel series The Thundermans: Undercover, which focuses on Phoebe and Max’s adventures, and released its second season in June 2026. The franchise is now returning in September with the movie Clash of the Thundermans, coming to Paramount+ on September 3, 2026.

The Thundermans Gives Us A Good Idea Of What The Incredibles Would Look Like In Live-Action

While there’s an ongoing trend of remaking animated movies into live-action ones, Pixar has (thankfully) stayed away from that. That means that, as much as many would like to see the live-action versions of movies like Ratatouille, Coco, and The Incredibles, that’s unlikely to happen. However, The Thundermans can give a good idea of what a live-action version of The Incredibles would be like.

As mentioned above, at the core of The Thundermans is their family dynamic, very much like in The Incredibles, though the former focuses more on the dynamic between Phoebe and Max. Like the Parrs, the members of the Thundermans have different sets of superpowers, and though they are more comedic and less dramatic than the Parrs, they are the closest to their live-action versions.

The Thundermans Might Be The Closest We Get To Sky High 2

The Thundermans also has many similarities to the movie Sky High, mostly that they focus on families of superpowered people and their struggles to balance their powers and superhero duties with normal, daily life. Sky High was well-received by critics and general audiences, and, with time, it has become a cult classic. Unfortunately, despite its popularity, its sequel, announced to be in development in 2016, never happened.

Sky High 2 would have reportedly followed the characters graduating from high school and attending university, where they would have faced new challenges and adventures. Sky High 2 never came to be, but The Thundermans and its movies are the closest to it, following its characters beyond the events of the main show. The Thundermans is an underrated superhero franchise, and it has the potential to continue for many more years.