The Key Behind ‘Girls with Powers’ TV Shows
'Stranger Things,' 'Hanna' and 'Cursed' follow similar storytelling template
Eleven of “Stranger Things” fame was a revelation in 2016.
Girls with powers has been a trope going back to “Escape from Witch Mountain” in 1975. Something about Eleven’s vulnerability combined with the Stephen King-meets-Steven Spielberg nostalgia made the show a worldwide phenomena.
And a well-deserved one, too, since “Stranger Things” has been consistently good with likable characters and fun adventures since that debut. Of course, once that door opened every streamer tried to replicate that success.
We’ve seen a dozen or more shows come and go since the premier of “Stranger Things” and yet none have lasted as long.
The Best ‘Girls With Powers’ Shows
1. “Stranger Things” (Netflix) (2016-2025) — A group of “D and D” geeks, shocked by the disappearance of their good friend, discovers a girl in the woods with unusual powers. They embark on a series of adventures to get their friend back with the help of the local Sheriff and the missing child’s mother.
2. “Hanna” (Prime) (2019-2021) — A girl with usual abilities trains in the woods with her father. The title character tries to find the truth behind her past while a rogue CIA agent is hunting her down.
3. “His Dark Materials” (HBO) — (2019-2022) A girl with the ability to read the “alethiometer” (truth teller) is searching for her estranged father and avoiding her dangerous mother in world similar to ours but different in critical ways.
4. “Lockwood & Co.” (Netflix) — (2023) A girl with a unique ability to speak to spirits is hired by a London firm to exercise ghosts. She gets involved in a greater mystery of how the ghosts came to be in England to begin with.
5. “The Power” (Prime) — (2023) Due to a mutation, women reaching puberty suddenly have the power to generate electricity giving them X-Men-like abilities. How will the men, and women without power, respond to this shift in the power dynamics between men and women? This isn’t a “woke” show as the subject suggests. It explores interesting ideas about how important physical power is in terms of safety.
6. “The Witcher” (Netflix) — (2019-2026) A monster hunter in a land of High Fantasy must protect a girl with powers who will save the universe.
7. “The Irregulars” (Netflix) — (2021) Loosely based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a group of teens investigates supernatural crimes with the help of Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson.
8. “Cursed” (Netflix) — (2020) So I like King Arthur stories, and this had a few interesting twists on familiar source material. It didn’t catch on with a large enough audience.
9. “The Nevers” (HBO) — (2021) In this science fiction show set in a Victorian-era London a strange meteor passes overhead giving some of the women in London extraordinary powers. As the women come to terms with their abilities they’re both exploited and discriminated against.
10. “Invisible City” (Netflix) — (2021-2023) The myths of the Amazon come to life as a man tracks down what happened to his wife and deals with the strange new powers his daughter seems to have.
11. “Warrior Nun” (Netflix) — (2020-2022) A girl crippled from birth and locked away in a convent is given a chance at life she can’t imagine when she receives the “Halo” and religious artifact of immense power. She and the members of her convent are tasked with protecting the Church from Satanic forces.
12. “The Umbrella Academy” (Netflix) — (2019-2024) A group of children all born on the same day to mothers who suddenly became pregnant join forces to fight forces of evil and maintain the timeline.
13. “Locke & Key” (Netflix) — (2020-2022) The Locke family moves back to its ancestral home in Massachusetts after experiencing a significant trauma. The discovery of magic keys opens doors and abilities beyond their imagination, leading them into a mystery that connects back to their father’s murder.
14. “Shadow and Bone” (Netflix) — (2021-2023) A girl in a High Fantasy world discovers her abilities as a “Sun Summoner” and begins a quest to end a conflict between warring nations.
15. “I’m Not Okay With This” (Netflix) — (2020) A young woman grappling with both teen life and her superpowers makes her way through high school.
So many of the aforementioned shows got canceled. Too many.
Part of this has to do with production costs and the narrow window to attract an audience. It became like throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks. Most of the shows are actually pretty good. Both “Lockwood & Co.” and “The Irregulars” in particular stood out, but neither garnered much buzz.
It got me thinking — why do good shows get canceled, what unites the show that end up being “hits?” I think the magic bullseye for shows like this is they appeal to a broad audience that includes men.
This is true of “Stranger Things,” “Hanna” and “His Dark Materials.”
I think we under estimate how important the father-daughter relationship is to so much of this “Girl Power” template, from TV shows to the rise of women’s sports. Think of how female-led volleyball, hockey, softball and basketball have thrived over the last decade.
That’s lot of dads spending quality time with their daughters.The conclusion? These shows have to win over dads to be successful.
Think “Stranger Things,” “Hanna” and “His Dark Materials” – they all have father figures in key roles.
Consider lovable Sheriff Jim Hopper (David Harbour) from “Stranger Things.” The character adopts Eleven early in the series, and that relationship delivers an emotional connection. Eleven’s unusual powers offer an emotional investment, but watching a grown man become a dad virtually overnight offers an emotional pull.
That’s relatable.
“Hanna” has Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman) looking out for his supercharged charge Hanna (Esme Creed-Miles) as she hunts down the project leader that took her mom’s life. The training sequence at the start of the series hooks you instantly.
Father and daughter out in the wilderness, learning to survive and thrive.
If they do reboot James Bond and he’s a she (which could work) they’d better have a backstory of her dad ready to go to secure that emotional hook.
James Bond worked because he had M as a mother figure. Jane Bond will, too, if there’s a strong father figure in her past.
If anybody tries to tell me that a female Bond won’t work I’d just say go watch Nebraska women play volleyball and then tell me you still believe that.
I just realized something…Christian edited out (and then I didn’t catch it to talk about it) that I had “canceled” by most of these shows.
All but a handful have been canceled.
Not sure that’s clear.
It’s the foundation of the article.
Such a great movie and makes my point, it’s the tension between George C. Scott’s character and Drew’s that creates the tension in the film and makes it a classic.
What the hell is this list all about? It’s full of woke nonsense and alphabet people tropes. Why in the world would a conservative-leaning website recommend so much lefty garbage?
It’s funny how the term “snowflake” is bandied about when discussing college campuses and the cancelling of free speech and yet…did you just try to cancel me?
lol
Anyway no this isn’t “woke nonsense and alphabet people tropes” and if that’s what you got maybe read it again?
The main points of the argument are pretty simple…
1. After the runaway success of “Stranger Things” there have been countless attempts to duplicate the formula (I thought of five more shows after I wrote this article, “Paper Girls” “The Witcher” “Wheel of Time” “Ragnarok” “The Boys” and could come up with a 1/2 dozen more I’m sure) but almost all of them have failed.
2. They failed because the missing ingredient is having a strong father figure in the story as the shows that do draw bigger audiences.
3. That same formula could work with a female Bond; if the next Bond is a woman having a father figure will help it be successful.
4. One only has to look at the rise of female sports to see how men can certainly cheer women on, well maybe not all men.
Hi Matt,
I am all for free speech and I hope you are as well. I do want to thank you for replying to my comment on your last article.
I thought Stranger Things season 1 was amazing but it lost its magic for me afterwards. I agree with your second point that having a strong father figure is important to reach a larger audience. Yes, for decades that roles for girls and women were limited and it is nice that has changed. You’re right, father-daughter stories are also an opportunity to bond. Unfortunately, it has my experience that many (not all) of the stories for women and girls depict males harshly. Yes, there may be an occasional stand up guy, but there is almost always some guy who possesses horrible character traits. Not only are they usually less intelligent, but often cringey, boorish, abusive, sexist, racist, homophobic, greedy, or just down right evil. (Do we see as many women depicted with those traits?) That’s why adding a strong father will bring in men because we are just like any other identity; we want to see ourselves depicted in a positive light.
I’d also argue the lack of interest in stories like this is due to fatigue. You’ve named 15 girls with powers shows which is niche and doesn’t include shows about other girls. Can you name 15 shows in the last few years where the main focus is about boys? (Shows about toxic masculinity do not count!) While my daughter has grown to be a fine young woman, I worry about young men. Perhaps they need the same emphasis and encouragement we now provide for females. Men would be much more receptive to shows if we felt Hollywood was as concerned about us and we had positive representation.
As to your final point about women’s athletics. from what I understand more males tune in than women. Yes, not all men but not all women either. Are you saying something about men who don’t?
What I would like to read about is shows that depict men (and women which is a given these days) in a positive light. Female co-leads are fine; the men in the X-Files, Fringe, and Homeland respected their female counterparts and I don’t recall sexist or boorish men treating them poorly to remind the audience how males usually act. Where are those shows today? Where are the male focused bonding shows of today?
A female Bond won’t work for me because I’m not interested in it. I don’t see the point.
I know the article is about TV shows, but since you started with “Escape from Witch Mountain”, a comment about movies seems relevant.
A film in this category which relies on the father-daughter relationship is 1984’s “Firestarter”, an underrated movie IMHO. Great performances all around; from what I’ve seen, many of those complaining about the film had already read the book and felt the movie didn’t do it justice. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s worth a watch, but if you’ve already read the book just remember that very few films live up to the novels that inspired them (“A Time to Kill”, “The Hunt for Red October”, and of course “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy are the only ones that do for me, allowing for the changes the directors felt were necessary for film.)
I haven’t seen the 2022 remake, but I know it wasn’t successful and only has a 4.1/10 rating on IMDB.
Such a great movie and makes my point, it’s the tension between George C. Scott’s character and Drew’s that creates the tension in the film and makes it a classic.