In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an accountant with zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a super villain. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero.
Latest episode: S2 E10 Choose Love! (Apr 4, 2019)
Tick and Arthur have freed the City from The Terror - now they must defend it from new villains and old enemies. That is If they can convince AEGIS, the government agency in charge of superhero regulation, that they deserve the job. But now that the City is 'safe enough to protect' Tick and Arthur begin to see they've got competition...
I like superheroes who do not fit the suit. The ones who trip into the job. Who wear a cape like a bathrobe that never sat right. The Tick from 2016 is that kind of hero.
Across two seasons on Amazon Prime, the laughs and the ache sat in the same scenes without a warning label. One minute you get weaponized syphilis. The next, his sidekick is in the middle of a panic attack and cannot get the moth wings to sit.
Peter Serafinowicz plays the Tick with baffled joy. A man, or an alien, or a walking blue muscle costume. The show never bothers to pick.
Justice, truth, a catchphrase on time. No origin, because origin would miss the point. He is here.
He will punch evil in the face with the confidence of a dog that just got a ball. He tilts his head, then delivers a slogan as if it were scripture. I laughed.
Then I believed him, which is a stranger trick. The physical work is huge, all wide eyes and big arms. The voice is what sold me.
Deep, sure, the sound of someone who has never once doubted his own heroism, even when the evidence is sitting on his chest.
Arthur Everest is the part that made me stay. Griffin Newman plays a man who has felt like a failure as a son, as an accountant, and now as a superhero whose homemade moth suit will not behave. The series gives him anxiety and childhood damage, and Newman plays it so plainly that you forget the moth costume.
"A clever, witty superhero comedy with a standout lead performance and sharp humor, despite its short run."
The series blends absurd humor with superhero tropes, led by Peter Serafinowicz's charismatic turn as The Tick. Its cancellation left storylines unresolved, but its fresh take on the genre and the chemistry of the main cast win praise. The pacing is uneven and the supporting characters are occasionally underdeveloped, yet the tone and comedic timing keep it engaging.
Amazon’s The Tick (2016) brought a fresh, absurdist twist to the superhero genre, blending sharp humor with a retro aesthetic. Starring Peter Serafinowicz as the titular blue-clad hero and Griffin Newman as his neurotic sidekick Arthur Everest, the series carved out a niche as a meta-commentary on superhero tropes—without taking itself too seriously. latestnetflix.com's view is that but what went on behind the scenes of this short-lived but beloved revival?
The Tick didn’t emerge overnight. The character originated in the 1980s as a comic book parody of superhero clichés, created by Ben Edlund. The 2016 series marked the second live-action adaptation, following a 2001 Fox version that fizzled out after one season. Edlund, who also developed the new iteration, leaned into the absurdity of the original comics, crafting a world where superheroes were real—but often useless.
Amazon greenlit the pilot in 2016, releasing it as a standalone episode in August of that year. The full first season followed nearly a year later, in August 2017. The gap between pilot and series premiere was unusual, but Amazon’s streaming model allowed for flexibility—though it may have contributed to the show’s eventual cancellation after two seasons.
Peter Serafinowicz’s portrayal of The Tick was a masterclass in physical comedy and deadpan delivery. The British actor, known for his voice work in Star Wars: Episode I and Guardians of the Galaxy, brought a childlike enthusiasm to the role, contrasting perfectly with Griffin Newman’s Arthur, a self-doubting accountant-turned-superhero.
Newman, a stand-up comedian and podcaster, was a relative unknown at the time, but his chemistry with Serafinowicz became the heart of the show. The duo’s dynamic—part Laurel and Hardy, part Batman and Robin—drove the series’ humor, balancing slapstick with sharp wit. Supporting cast members like Valorie Curry (Dot Everest) and Brendan Hines (Superian) added depth, grounding the absurdity in genuine emotional stakes.
Unlike Marvel or DC’s big-budget spectacles, The Tick thrived on its low-stakes charm. The series embraced practical effects and minimal CGI, relying on Serafinowicz’s physicality and the writing’s cleverness to sell its world. This approach kept production costs manageable, but it also meant the show lacked the visual grandeur of its competitors—a potential factor in its modest audience numbers.
Amazon’s decision to cancel the series after Season 2 left fans with an unresolved cliffhanger. While the show’s cult following has kept it alive in discussions, no revival or continuation has materialized.
The Tick (2016) may not have been a ratings juggernaut, but it proved that superhero stories didn’t need capes and explosions to be entertaining. Its self-aware humor and lovable characters gave it a distinct voice in a crowded genre. For fans of offbeat comedy and superhero satire, it remains a hidden gem—one that deserves a second look.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
More titles in the same genres and with the same cast.
