Comic books have won over generations of fans with larger-than-life characters, vivid art and compelling stories. While all of those things also exist in other mediums, there are certain non-comic franchises that also contain all of those things, also delivering them in the same style as comics. With that in mind, these franchises will surely appeal to fans of comics by showcasing the same kind of larger-than-life characters and action.
Here's our list of other media franchises that best capture the spirit of comic books.
Warhammer 40,000 brings action on an epic scale to one of Sci-Fi's most unique settings
Originally a spin-off to the older and now defunct Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop wargame, Warhamer 40,000 (usually abbreviated to 40K) debuted in 1987 and has since become not only creator Games Workshop's most popular product, but has done so while spawning a massive multi-franchise and establishing one of the most iconic Sci-Fi universes in the genre: a far-future galaxy wracked by war, fanaticism, technological and social stagnation and constant invasions by aliens and demonic beings. The game's tagline "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war" single-handedly introduced the concept of "grimdark" to Pop Culture.
And the 40K universe is dark, bleak and relentlessly so. The setting is deliberately designed to lack any clear good guys and even the Human factions that get most of the focus still represent a brutal, repressive empire. The status quo of the setting rarely changes and usually only for the worse. It can be off-putting, but there are still plenty interesting stories featuring larger-than-life characters to be found.
While the actual tabletop miniature game remains the flagship product of the 40K franchise, it's an expensive hobby to commit to. Luckily, the 40K franchise has plenty of alternative ways for fans to experience it without needing to commit the time and money to buy, assemble and painstakingly paint armies of little plastic fighting dudes. There are about 500 40K books fleshing out the setting's lore, most significantly the Horus Heresy, the civil war that is basically responsible for everything that's gone wrong in the setting. There have been 40K video games since the early '90s — with the recent RPG Rogue Trader and third-person action game Space Marine 2 both becoming hits. There are also numerous 40K animated short films, including a segment in Amazon Prime Video's Secret Level anthology.
There has also been official confirmation recently of a 40K streaming series from Amazon Prime Video featuring Henry Cavill, though specific details are still sparse.
Pro Wrestling is about as close to a real-life comic book as we're ever going to get
We've previously taken a look at the crossover between comic books and professional wrestling, but to briefly recap: multiple wrestlers are big fans of comic books, a lot of them wrestle in gear inspired by comic book characters and more than a few have had cameos in comic book movies. Ultimately, it's not hard to see why there's so much crossover between comic and pro wrestling fans. In a lot of ways, wrestling is really just a comic book being played out in full motion.
Although the more outlandish characters gimmicks of the '80s and '90s are a thing of the past — there are no more prison guards, magic zombie cowboys, or ice ninjas who apparently need to wrestle to put food on the table — pro wrestling still fundamentally operates on comic book logic. Larger-than-life heroes and villains who look like they've been sculpted out of marble wearing bright costumes solve most of their problems by fighting each other instead of in any way that actually makes sense.
Sure, it doesn't really hold up if you stop to think about it, but why are you stopping to think about it when the World Championship is hanging 20 feet above the ring in a ladder match?
John Wick is the Punisher in a three-piece suit
The John Wick franchise was kicked off by a fairly simple premise: gangsters kill retired hitman's beloved dog, said hitman spends the next two hours beating up everyone. Action movies tend not to have very complicated premises and, at least on paper, John Wick isn't much of an exception. In execution, however, John Wick has gone down as one of the best action movie franchises of all time — with the first and fourth movies earning particular acclaim.
So, what makes John Wick different?
For one thing, despite being kicked off by a fairly standard revenge plot, John Wick is actually a remarkably thoughtful and intelligent franchise. There's a lot of elaborate world building throughout the franchise, centered on the globe-spanning organization of hitmen with its own elaborate codes and rules — it feels like a modern-day, film noir take on a Fantasy-genre Thieves' or Assassins' Guild. As simple as a revenge plot that kicks off the franchise is, it's unfolding against a backdrop with an incredible amount of details and lore.
Similarly, the filmmaking itself is a mastercraft in the art. The framing and staging of the shots are well-planned out, and the sets and costumes are fantastic, the casting throughout the franchise is fantastic. Mostly important for an action movie, the choreography of the fight scenes is some of the best ever put to film.
And, of course, Keanu Reeves himself is basically perfect in every role he's ever played…
Dynasty Warriors takes the comic book approach to ancient history
The Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280) is one of the most famous in Chines history. The collapse of the Han Dynasty and the conflicts of the three rival kingdoms of Wei, Wu and Shu to fill the vacuum have inspired art and media for centuries. Japanese developer Koei Tecmo has embraced the time period with their flagship series of action games, Dynasty Warriors, combining the actual history of the Three Kingdoms, the mythologized accounts of the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms book, and a dose of larger-than-life comic book-style action and character designs to allow gamers to live up the promise of intense, epic 1-vs-1000 combat.
While the franchise has previously had a fairly contested reception — with professional critics usually dismissing it as mindless and repetitive while retaining a passionate base of longtime fans — 2025's Origins has breathed new life into the franchise. With a clear influence from the Souls-like genre and games like Koei Tecmo's own Ni-Oh, Ninja Gaiden and Wo Long, Origins has taken the franchise in a direction that emphasizes strategy and skill more so than just plowing forward through the enemy army. There's still enough of the traditional Dynasty Warriors gameplay that longtime fans were satisfied, but the new direction also resonated with critics in a way the series hasn't previously — with reviews that while not oustanding, have been much more unanimously positive — and Origins sold a million copies in less than a month.
Dynasty Warriors has also been recognized for boasting a phenomenal soundtrack for a long time now. That's clear from the trailer posted above, set to the epic rocking of "Thousand Suns", a track so awesome it has rightfully reappeared in every Dynasty Warriors game since its debut in Dynasty Warriors 7.
Dungeons & Dragons has been letting gamers live out epic adventures for 50 years
2024 was the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, released in its original three-book box set, developed by Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and the rest of the team at TSR working more or less out of a basement in 1974 — incidentally, the book Game Wizards is a fascinating corporate history of the rise and fall of TSR.
For those humble beginnings, DnD has gone on to become the quintessential nerd hobby and from there to break into the mainstream as a lot of nerd hobbies have started being viewed as cool in recent decades. Especially in recent years, there have been a fair few controversies for the franchise that have alienated portions of the player base. Still, it's easy to see why DnD has been popular for 50 years. There's an undeniable appeal in the opportunity to live out the life of a dashing rogue like Robin Hood, a conquering barbarian like Conan, or three Goblins in a trenchcoat pretending to be a human.
Of course, there are other tabletop RPGs than DnD out there and they are worth experiencing too. Pragmatically, however, DnD remains probably remains the best place to start. The rules are straightforward enough that it isn't hard to at least gain an understanding of the basic gameplay loop, and as the most popular tabletop RPG out there, it's simply going to be easier to find a group to actually play with.
Although its underperformed at the box office, 2023's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a great introduction to DnD for newcomers and a fantastic realization of the game's world on screen. Similarly, the award-winning, critically acclaimed video game Baldur's Gate 3 is an excellent way to learn the basic concepts of DnD, with the added bonus of the game itself doing most of the math involved for the player.