Netflix’s New 8-Episode Superhero Epic With Near-Perfect Reviews Is Dominating Streaming
Years in the making, Netflix’s latest superhero series — potentially Stan Lee’s final live-action project — has exploded into an instant hit, a rare caped triumph for a streamer whose only prior standout was The Umbrella Academy.
Netflix quietly dropped a new superhero series and, against the odds, it is already popping. Yes, Netflix and capes have a spotty track record (shoutout to The Umbrella Academy), but this one is surging right as The Boys winds down on Prime this week. And the backstory? It almost carried Stan Lee 's fingerprints in a very literal way.
The quick version
- Title: The Wonderfools
- What it is: An 8-episode comedy/fantasy about messy, reluctant supers
- Creator: Kang Eun-kyung
- Star: Cha Eun-woo (yes, the K-pop idol/actor)
- Release: All episodes dropped May 15
- Vibe: Flawed people waking up with powers they can barely handle; leans playful over po-faced
- Early traction: 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (with very few critic reviews so far)
- Charts: Sitting in Netflix's US Top 3, per FlixPatrol
The Stan Lee thread that almost was
This show simmered for years. Back in 2018, it was first sketched as an adaptation of Stan Lee's idea called The B-Team, about a squad of B-tier supers facing off against the mad scientist who created them. Lee passed away right around that period, but his production company still took part in the early development. By the time production actually got moving, the concept had been rebuilt into an original series and retitled The Wonderfools. So no, it is not a Lee adaptation anymore, but in an alternate timeline it could have ended up as his final live-action project.
So what's it actually about?
"In the weeks leading up to the turn of the millennium, the small Korean town of Haeseong City is dealing with disappearances and a creepy new church gaining influence. Three ordinary misfits are wrapped up in their own problems until they suddenly wake up with superpowers and realize they're the only ones who can save the town."
Set in the late-1990s run-up to 2000, it mixes cozy small-town weirdness with supernatural trouble and a trio of heroes who are very much not ready for any of it.
How it's landing
Fans are into it. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is basically glowing, and a lot of the praise zeroes in on the cast (unsurprisingly, Cha Eun-woo's getting a ton of love), the comedy, and the story beats. Over on Reddit, the feedback is more mixed: some viewers call out uneven writing, familiar plotting, and villains that don't match the heroes' spark. Still, the overall tone is positive, and the early viewership momentum suggests Netflix might want more.
What comes next
When the show was first announced, the team floated plans for a Hollywood remake and locally tailored Korean and Chinese versions. No clear update on that yet. Given the fan response and the Top 3 placement, a Season 2 feels like a real possibility, but there's no official renewal as of now.
Bottom line: if you've OD'd on grim antihero shows, this is a breezier, offbeat alternative with enough personality to stand out. Curious to see if Netflix lets this one grow.