[For more of Collider's Best of 2016 lists, click here]

2016 was a terrible year to be a human, but it’s actually been a pretty great year to be a superhero fan. From the big screen to the small to whatever Netflix is (the true Dominator, perhaps), there is more superhero content than ever. And, sure, some of it falls short of its iconic source material (like Batman v. Superman), but much more of it lives up to the hype. Below you'll find a list (unranked) of the best moments of 2016 from each of the year's superhero TV shows and movies -- some were harder to find than others. And obviously a spoiler warning here: if you haven't seen any of these shows or movies, skip on by if you don't want certain plot points revealed.

Legends of Tomorrow — DC TV Team-Up

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Image via The CW

When Supergirl moved to The CW for its second season and the Berlanti-verse announced it would be undertaking a four-way crossover between its various superhero-types, we weren’t sure how it would go. Would it be a total mess? In some ways yes, it was, but the result was totally worth any confusion that may have come from having so many characters on screen at once.

Drawing from the Dominator plotline from the Invasion! comic book story arc, the four-way (OK, really three-way) crossover was a classic superhero team-up. There were so many great moments, from everyone meeting Supergirl to the nerds of the respective superhero teams geeking out together, but the absolute best moment came in the Legends of Tomorrow segment of the crossover, when we finally got to see these superheroes work together to defeat the aliens and save Earth.

No, The CW is never going to be able to compete with blockbuster movies in the visual effects department, but the Arrow-verse crossover proved that it’s more important to get characters you care about on the screen together than it is to craft a visually-impressive fight. We’re already counting down to the next DC TV crossover.

Supergirl — Kara & Clark Team Up

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Image via The CW

As previously noted, when Supergirl moved to The CW from CBS, it was unclear if the show would be able to find its footing on the smaller, more demographically-specific channel. We never should have doubted Kara or the Berlanti team. Supergirl flew into Season 2 stronger than ever, giving us a two-part season premiere that featured the best Superman since Christoper Reeve.

Supergirl gave us what Batman v. Superman couldn’t: a Superman who was also a total nerd. Watching Kara and Clark interact as ridiculously nice cousins trying to be there for one another was arguably more exciting than seeing them suit up and save a space shuttle together. Either way, we don’t have to choose. Supergirl proved that it’s possible to tell a story about a complex female superhero who occasionally gets support from her male, superhuman cousin. Clark didn’t take away from Kara’s characterization or heroism. As any El worth their salt knows, we are stronger together.

Runner up moments: Barry visits Kara in National City in “The World’s Finest.” Alex’s coming out story arc — proof that heroism takes many different forms.

The Flash — Welcome to Earth 2

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Image via The CW

The Flash is arguably the best of the DC TV shows right now. (I could make a strong argument for Supergirl, but will concede that The Flash has an impressive head start.) Thus far, its three-season run has been characterized by a plot-churning pace unlike any other show on TV. From Gorilla Grodd to time travel, The Flash never met an episode it didn’t think it could squeeze one more comic book plot element into. When this works, this show is like comic book adaptation crack. When it doesn’t work, well, The Flash still gets points for trying, if not demerits for giving its viewers a logic headache.

One of the most successful elements of the ever-expanding Flash narrative has been the inclusion of the Multiverse, a fictional universe that is made up of an infinite number of Earths. Now, it’s one thing for The Flash to give us a throwaway line about other Earths or even to bring characters from those Earths to Barry’s world. It’s another thing altogether to make Earth-2 a driving narrative force of the second season and to send Barry and Cisco there by Episode 13.

That’s exactly what we saw with Season 2’s “Welcome to Earth 2,” when Barry and Cisco traveled to Earth 2 in an attempt to save Wells’ daughter Jesse from Zoom. The episode not only tied a lot of disparate plot elements together, but gave us a peek into what our favorite characters are like in another world. From Killer Frost to jazz singer Joe West (R.I.P.) to alt-Cisco, The Flash managed to turn a potential gimmick into a stakes-laden hour of TV that ended with a killer cliffhanger. The Flash at its best. Comic book TV at its best.

Runner up moments: Jesse becomes speedster Jesse Quick. Our Caitlin begins to manifest Killer Frost-esque powers.

Arrow — The 100th Episode

There aren’t many people who would argue that Arrow is in its prime. The superhero TV show that started an entire CW fictional universe has seen better narrative days. However, that doesn’t discount the fact that its early critical and ratings success helped usher in an era of unashamedly comic book-y superhero TV, a function that has arguably gutted what made this show so great in its first two seasons.

In some ways, Arrow sacrificed its narrative soul to launch the DC TV universe that would later run ahead without it. Arrow’s 100th episode, which somewhat fittingly was swallowed up by the crossover event, was a celebration of what Arrow was, while simultaneously a lament to the show it could have been if it hadn’t been forced to go darker and more magical in the wake of The Flash’s launch.

Yes, this is a bittersweet superhero moment to highlight. And perhaps I could have chosen one of Arrow’s superior Season 5 fight scenes. The current season of Arrow has been infinitely better than the previous two. But, for me, the 100th episode was a fitting tribute to Arrow’s contributions to the DC TV universe and superhero TV in general, a reminder of all that was lost when Arrow moved from a lone wolf to responsible for steadying other superhero TV shows. This list would be a lot shorter without it.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — Ghost Rider

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Image via ABC

When it was announced that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be introducing Ghost Rider in Season 4, the news was understandably met with some trepidation. Most people are still trying to wash the taste of the feature film out of their mouth. However, while Season 4 of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t been its strongest, Robbie Reyes has been a welcome addition to the show, proof that it is possible to stretch the mystical realities of a fictional world without driving it off the deep end. (Sorrynotsorry, Arrow.)

What has worked about Ghost Rider? Firstly, it’s just nice to see such an iconic character on the small screen, and for him to be rendered so impressively on a TV budget with a solid performance from Gabriel Luna, to boot. Past that, it is refreshing that S.H.I.E.L.D. chose the Robbie Reyes incarnation of the character, and skipped the origin story to give us a fully-formed comic book dude. S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t skipped the character work in bringing Robbie Reyes to life, giving Robbie an actual life and people he cares about. S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to be one of the most diverse shows on TV and characters like Robbie Reyes are a large part of that. 

Runner up moments: S.H.I.E.L.D. defeats Hive. Daisy becomes Quake.

Daredevil — The Staircase Fight

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Image via Netflix

Daredevil Season 2 didn’t make quite as many waves as its debut season, but the second season of the show was another solid entry from the Netflix Marvel show that does fight sequences like no other comic book-based TV show out there. In the third episode of Season 2, Daredevil arguably topped its “one-shot” fight hallway scene from Season 1 with a “one-shot” stairwell scene featuring Daredevil facing off against an entire motorcycle club’s worth of thugs in the flickering shadows of a NYC apartment building.

The Raid-like fight sequence took three days to shoot, but the result was worth it. Vigilante-ism has never felt as raw, visceral, or brutal as in this four-minute fight scene.

Agent Carter — Lady Heroes & Villains

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Image via CW

Maybe I should get more specific with my Agent Carter moment than the fact that it, you know, existed, but I don’t think I have to. Given the number of superhero TV shows and movies currently in existence, the fact that Agent Carter is one of only two items on this list that is a female-led property (ensemble dramas don’t count) is disappointing. Without any new Jessica Jones in 2016 and with Agent Carter canceled, the year was not a great one for female superhero-types.

Despite Agent Carter’s cancellation, we’ll always have Season 2, which upped the ante when it came to giving us some charismatic, maniacal female villains for Peggy to face off against. Between the return of Soviet assassin Dottie and the introduction of Zero Matter-infected scientist-actress Whitney Frost, Agent Carter proved that women can be compelling, nuanced supervillain and superheroes. Now if only the rest of the superhero media universe would take note.

Gotham — Bruce Confronts His Parents’ Killer

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Image via Fox

Gotham isn’t the most consistent show on television, but it certainly has its moments. One of those moments? When the show finally got around to having Bruce confront his parents’ killer, Matches Malone, in Season 2’s “This Ball of Mud and Meanness.”

The cast of Gotham brings a gravitas to a show that arguably doesn’t deserve it. Nowhere is that clearer than in David Mazouz’s performance as a young Bruce Wayne. Mazouz was in top form for this pivotal scene, which sees Bruce faced with the ultimate question: If given the opportunity to kill his parents’ killer, will he? One thing Gotham does have going for it is unpredictability, so it’s unclear when watching the scene if the show will actually have its teen character murder a man in cold blood.

Thankfully, Gotham takes the more measured, morally-interesting road (for once), having Bruce recognize the larger context of his parents’ deaths, even if he doesn’t fully understand why they were killed. “Look at me. I’m a monster. You need to kill me,” Matches tells a steely-eyed Bruce. “I wish you were a monster, but you’re just a man,” Bruce responds, wise and broken beyond his years. In this moment, more than ever before, you can practically see the Batman in him.

Runner up moment: Penguin and Riddler almost have a romance.

Luke Cage — Method Man Raps “Bulletproof Love”

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Image via Netflix

The power and radical importance of having a black, bulletproof hero in a year when the killing of unarmed black men by policemen was finally forced into the public eye cannot be understated. Luke Cage was arguably the most important superhero TV show or movie of the year, and it didn’t mince words when it came to explaining what it was all about in the very context of the show. Method Man even showed up to make it clear to viewers.

In Episode 12, Method Man goes on a local radio show to throw his support behind Luke Cage, detailing how the superhero saved his life and explaining why we need “a black man that’s bulletproof and unafraid.” The scene launches into the rapper performing his track “Bulletproof Love” over a montage of black men wearing Luke’s signature hoodie (and interacting with the police).

With lines like “Now we got a hero for hire and he a black one” and “Give up my life for Trayvon to have one,” superhero media has never been more relevant than Luke Cage, which is brave enough to engage with real-life, systemic problems, rather than abstract, supernatural forces.

X-Men: Apocalypse — Jean Grey Embraces Her Inner Phoenix

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X-Men: Apocalypse was a mixed bag of superhero tricks and treats, but Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey was one of the highlights of an otherwise uneven film. What could have felt like an unearned story arc shoved into an overstuffed film, was actually the plot line that saved this messy narrative, by giving the film’s climactic hero moment not to Charles or Erik, but rather to a teen girl.

Turner is perfect as a young Jean Grey. She is standoffish, but likable. A regular teenage girl, though one made guarded by her at-times uncontrollable powers.

Most mainstream media teaches young girls to hide their power, to keep it tight inside and let the men in their life save asked mentee Jean to save them all. And she does, literally melting a god by embracing her Phoenix powers. It is a moment an entire X-Men movie franchise in the making, and the one that gives me the most hope that this prequel series has somewhere interesting to go next.

Runner up moment: The Quicksilver montage.

Captain America: Civil War — Steve Drops His Shield

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Image via Marvel Studios

Captain America: Civil War probably should have been called The Avengers: Civil War. It was so stuffed with superhero team ups that it made the DC TV crossover look like a one-man stage play. But, as has always been the case with the Marvel Cinematic Universe Big Two (a.k.a. Iron Man and Captain America), the action was grounded with some seriously compelling character stuff. In other words, this movie’s got heart.

Though Tony and Steve may be very viscerally fighting one another in the final fight, the real stakes are emotional, and that makes all of the difference. (Take note, DC Extended Universe.) We care about both of these characters. They care about one another. But, somehow, that isn’t enough. Bucky, and his past actions as Winter Soldier, stand between them. They are weighed down by the history of what has come before.

This isn’t a bad thing. One of the things the MCU has most going for it is its sense of history, carefully-constructed over the course of more than a dozen films. When an injured Tony tells Steve that his shield doesn’t belong to him because his father made it, because Steve has chosen Bucky over the team, we don’t only have Tony’s word for it or wonder what Steve is thinking in that moment. We saw Howard Stark gave Steve the vibranium shield in The First Avenger. We saw Howard grieved Steve’s death in Agent Carter. We saw Steve grieve the loss of that time with the passing of Peggy earlier in Civil War.

Steve dropping the shield isn’t just a moment that works within the narrative of Civil War; it is a moment that ties the calls on the entire history of the carefully-built MCU, and proves just what is possible in this age of superhero storytelling when a shared fictional universe is done right.

Runner up moments: The introduction of Black Panther. The introduction of Spider-Man.

Deadpool — Opening Credits

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Superhero fatigue is a thing. Sure, there are lots of super fans who will treat any superhero TV show or movie that manages to make it to fruition as a nerd miracle worth celebrating, but for the more casual fan, we may have hit Peak Superhero. This is one of the reasons why Deadpool struck such a chord with audiences. It might not be part of the MCU, but it is still part of the conversation. Perhaps even more importantly, it’s not simply trying to mimic what the MCU has done. It’s trying to add something to the conversation.

Deadpool makes this known in its opening moments, giving us a credits sequence that cleverly takes apart its own genre. With credits like “Starring God’s Perfect Idiot” and “Directed By An Overpaid Tool,” the sequence is not only visually intriguing, but lets the audience know that meta commentary will be infused into the movie’s every frame. If you were wondering whether you can have your superhero cake and eat it, too, the answer is yes.

Doctor Strange —Meet the Multiverse

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Image via Marvel

For most viewers, the weird, wonderful visuals of Doctor Strange were the best part of the film, and for good reason. Doctor Strange had some of the best movie visuals of the year. Scott Derrickson had an immense task in introducing the Multiverse into the MCU and, while he arguably failed at other elements of this film, he succeeded in this vital purpose. This is never more true than in the five-minute sequence that sees Strange and the audience exploring the vast space-time of the Multiverse. The introduction of parallel dimensions, the flow of time, and astral planes, could have been exposition-heavy, confusing, and clunkily-told. Instead, it was the highlight of what was, in many other ways, a redundant MCU film.

Runner up moment: Strange meets Thor in the mid-credits scene.

Batman v. Superman — We Meet Wonder Woman

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Image via Warner Bros.

By in large, Batman v. Superman was a soulless slog, but, if you’re anything like me, you jerked to attention sometime in Hour 2 when the Wonder Woman theme song came over the theater speakers and Gal Gadot appeared like a scene-stealing goddess, here to save us all from our collective Zack Snyder-induced slumber.

Not only does Diana save the film’s heroes multiple times, but she gets cool, throwaway lines like: “I’ve killed things from other worlds before.” A light in the darkness of the DC Extended Universe nightmare, Wonder Woman represents DC’s big chance to get a real blow in against the MCU dominance with her upcoming standalone movie. And to think: It all started with Batman v. Superman.

Suicide Squad — Bruce Wayne Meets Amanda Waller

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Image via Warner Bros.

Like the other DC Extended Universe item on this list, Suicide Squad was another disappointing bore, saved by the occasional suggestion of a larger cinematic universe that could bring better things. This chiefly came in a mid-credits scene featuring Bruce Wayne forming an uneasy alliance with Amanda Waller. In exchange for Bruce’s protection, Waller gives Bruce mega intel on the metahuman population he is both recruiting from and looking to take down with his nascent Justice League. The dossier includes files on The Flash and Aquaman, teasing the scope of what’s to come in the larger DC Extended Umiverse.

The scene also highlights one of the strongest elements of the DC Extended Universe: the moral grey zone. The DCEU is much more comfortable teasing out the villainous aspects of its heroes and straight-up making movies centered around protagonist-villains. So if, moving forward, the DCEU is able to better clarify these explorations of morality, that could better set it apart from the MCU. Moments like seeing Bruce Wayne form an alliance with Amanda Waller simply for leverage is one of those clarifying moments. It makes strategic sense, unlike Waller’s Task Force X.

Runner up moment: Ezra Miller’s lightning-quick cameo as The Flash. The Suicide Squad’s first encounter with the Eyes of the Adversary.

The Logan Trailer

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Image via 20th Century Fox

A cheat, sure, but I’m just really excited about this movie.

What were some of your favorite moments from this year's superhero TV shows and movies?