Into every superhero tale, a high school origin story is born.
Well, not every superhero story, but indeed, some of the most iconic superheroes of our time had their start within the halls of one high school or another. But what happens when they grow up? And what about the superheroes that get a late start in life? Don’t they deserve some love too?
Whether it’s Buffy Summers who tries to live a normal college life after slaying a giant green snake at her high school graduation (R.I.P. Mayor Wilkins) or Jaime Reyes from Blue Beetle who has an ancient superpowered Scarab thrust into his hand at the ripe age of 22. These college student superheroes are every bit as memorable as any pimply-faced adolescent coming to terms with the unique combo of superpowers + puberty.
In honor of these trailblazers, we’ve compiled a list of some of the crème de la crème college student superheroes from every fictional world you can imagine. Some are valiant, some are… not. But each and every one of them is still just trying to figure out their place in the world, albeit with one or two less pimples.
Renowned filmmaker and superhero hater James Cameron once trashed the Marvel and DC cinematic universe as films with characters who all “act like they’re in college.” Well, these ones really are. Take that, James Cameron.
Jaime Reyes (Blue Beetle)
Where to watch: Currently showing in theaters
Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) is fresh off of his college graduation when we meet him in Blue Beetle. As he tells his sister, Milagro, he’s in no hurry to start his graduate studies, if he ever will. So, upon returning to his hometown Palmera City and reuniting with his family, he decides to dedicate his sole attention to fixing the Reyes family’s financial problem. This leads him to an interview at Kord Industries, or at least an attempted interview. After coming into possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology known as the Scarab, Jaime’s life takes a sharp turn from college graduate to hometown superhero. As tends to be the case with origin stories such as these, life for Jaime Reyes will never be the same.
Ironheart (MCU)
Where to stream: Disney Plus
Out of all the next generation of heroes set to take over the MCU over the next few years, Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart is perhaps one of the more underrated at this juncture. What with everything else going on in the sequel, from the honoring of Chadwick Boseman to the rise of Shuri, Riri Williams’ debut slightly fell by the wayside, but don’t forget she’s got her own spinoff coming up.
As an engineering prodigy who found a way to detect vibranium while she was still studying at MIT, Riri is clearly one of the most intelligent people on Earth-616 99999, perhaps only on the level of the new Black Panther herself. Now that she’s armed with her own Tony Stark-style suit of armor, she’s no doubt about to become a force to be reckoned with. Presumably, we’ve got some classic Spider-Man-like conflict between her education and superhero shenanigans to come in Ironheart, the Disney Plus series to blast onto streaming sometime in 2024.
Nightwing (DCAU)
Where to stream: Max
Brenton Thwaites’ Dick Grayson, as seen in Titans, might’ve already been a fully-fledged police officer, but typically the character is depicted as a little younger. The Chris O’Donnell version never seemed to go to college in the Joel Schumacher Batman movies, but he was the right age. A fan-favorite, and perhaps still the definitive, screen adaptation of the character did, however.
One of the best things about the DC Animated Universe is that it depicts the characters’ lives across decades. So when Batman: The Animated Series begins, we meet a teenage Robin, but by the time of The New Batman Adventures, Dick has moved out of Wayne Manor and is now attending college, with Tim Drake having taken his place as the new Robin. Dick and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl attend university together and they have a whole college romance thing going on.
Of course, Batman Beyond then reveals that Bruce and Barbara had an affair during this time, causing Dick to turn his back on Batman, uh, forever. The George Clooney version would never.
Cyborg (DCEU)
Where to stream: Max
Life after college can be scary for anyone, but it was particularly tumultuous for Victor Stone, aka DC’s Cyborg. Once a hotshot football prodigy, Victor tragically lost his mother in a car accident that also left him on the brink of death. His genius father, Dr. Silas Stone, however, was able to use the powers of an Apokoliptian Mother Box to restore his son to health. The only hitch was that he was now a metallic cyborg who had to adjust to a whole new existence.
Cyborg’s dark college experience is a huge part of Vic’s backstory in the DCEU, and over the course of Justice League (take your pick over the two cuts, but obviously, you need psychiatric help if you choose the Whedon version over the Snyder Cut) we get to see Cyborg pull himself back together again after the loss of his mother and his hopes and dreams and discover a new purpose in life.
Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4,5)
Where to stream: Hulu
I know what you’re thinking. Sunnydale High School, not UC Sunnydale, comes to mind when meditating on Buffy the Vampire Slayer; it is the home of the Hellmouth after all. Indeed, the first three seasons of Buffy do take place at Sunnydale High, and a good chunk of the last season returns to those very halls to tie the whole story together. But after the Scooby Gang graduates high school in season three, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) ventures over to the University of California, Sunnydale (filmed at this writer’s Alma Mater, I might add).
There she meets Riley, Willow meets Oz (and then Tara), and the show really kicks into overdrive. Season four is when Buffy truly comes into her own as a slayer and delivers on one of the coolest and most satisfying battle sequences between her and that season’s big-bad Adam in the finale (white doves anyone?)
Sadly, Buffy’s college career is cut short by the arrival of Glory and her mother’s illness in season five, but there’s no question college Buffy was one of the best iterations of the superhero. Season four is also home to the episode “Hush,” arguably one of the best of the entire series and the first and only to win the show an Emmy Award in a writing capacity.
Claire Bennet (Heroes season 4)
Where to stream: Peacock
Season one of NBC’s Heroes blew critics and audiences away with its expertly crafted introduction to everyday superheroes living among us and an overpowered serial killer supervillain hellbent on killing them to steal their powers. The now-iconic phrase “save the cheerleader, save the world” echoed throughout every television set around the world. And because cheerleaders are, by nature, a staple in high schools, it’s easy to forget that Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), the cheerleader with Wolverine-like healing powers, eventually went to college in season four.
Like any young superhero attempting to live a normal college life, things don’t go according to plan for Claire. She begins to suspect that Sylar, the serial killer who’s made her life a living hell since season one, might still be on the prowl.
Clark Kent (Smallville season 5)
Where to stream: Hulu/Max
The most unbelievable thing about Smallville, the Superman prequel series, is not that it’s about a Kansas-raised alien or a town full of meteor freaks it’s that we’re supposed to believe the very 24-year-old looking Tom Welling is a high school freshman in season one. And yet that’s what the character is, so it takes all the way until season five before Clark Kent graduates from school and enrolls in college. Thankfully, this ushered in one of the long-running series’ most memorable eras.
Clark’s tenure at the fictional Central Kansas University sees him bond with his history professor, Dr. Milton Fine (as played by Buffy’s own James Marsters), who employs him as his research assistant and appears to be another citizen wary of LuthorCorp. However, it ultimately turns out that Fine is really evil Kryptonian A.I. Brainiac who is attempting to resurrect his master, General Zod! As it sounds, just as Clark was moving on to higher education, Smallville aimed to further educate its audience on the wider DC universe starting with its fifth season.
What with his ascent to heroism, though, Clark’s college career ends after season five… despite him landing a job as a star reporter at the major newspaper The Daily Planet in season eight. Actually, you know what, that might be the most unbelievable thing about Smallville.
Peter Parker (Spider-Man trilogy)
Where to stream: Disney Plus
Thanks to cinema’s obsession with depicting Peter Parker as a high school student, everyone always thinks of Spider-Man being a teen as his factory setting. And yet, in the original comics from Stan Lee, Peter graduates from school as early as issue #28. So while it took an entire trilogy for Tom Holland’s Spidey to do the same, and Andrew Garfield left school at the beginning of The Amazing Spider-Man, Sam Raimi’s version is actually the most accurate as he moves onto college early on in the first film.
The college life of Tobey Maguire’s web-slinger is then a major plot driver in the much-acclaimed Spider-Man 2 as Peter is struggling to stay on top of his school work while living a double life as our friendly neighborhood… you-know-who. By the start of Spider-Man 3, Peter’s got it all under control, balancing his school life, love life, and superhero life perfectly. That is, until he turns into Bully Maguire after getting infected with an alien symbiote. Ah, that’s Peter Parker for you. Such a relatable character.
The supes of Gen V
Where to stream: Prime Video
Gen V, the spin-off to Prime Video’s smash hit The Boys, is like a version of the X-Men studying at Professor Xavier’s X-Mansion but on steroids (literally). The gruesomely bloody show centers around a group of young superheroes, or “supes,” enrolled at Godolkin University School of Crimefighting who are among the first generation to know that their powers come from Compound V, the chemically crafted super serum uncovered in The Boys.
Wadding through a series of battle royale challenges, these Gen V supes are not your average superhero. In fact, it could be argued that some of them are downright villains. Indeed, everything about this fictional universe flies in the face of typical superhero stories, and that’s what makes it so compelling. You wanted reckless superheroes who act like they’re all in college, James Cameron? Well, now you’ve got it.
Gen V premieres on Prime Video on Sept. 29. 2023.
