Netflix’s series, The Chosen One is all about a young kid discovering he has divine powers. The deeply religious people of his town soon declared him the next Jesus Christ and sought him out for miraculous solutions. Set in the late 1990s, the show trudges through genres like fantasy fiction and coming-of-age drama with elements of superhero storytelling. We have come across many shows and movies that cover all the above genres and provide a fresh perspective on varied stories. Here is a list of shows and movies that you can watch if you enjoyed watching The Chosen One.

Stranger Things (2016)

This 2016 horror-science-fiction drama changed the course of how stories in this genre came to be approached. Set in the 1980s, a bunch of kids come across a mute girl named Eleven and use her help to find their friend Will, who has been kidnapped by the creatures from Upside Down. The common factor between Stranger Things and The Chosen One is the way the story is told from the perspective of the kids. Both shows have pre-teen kids as the protagonists. The writers quite amazingly present a sense of adventure and seeking out new things, which is a common trait found in kids before they become moody teenagers. In both shows, there is a strong bond that the gang shares. All the children in Stranger Things and The Chosen One go out of their way to help others. Despite the main plots of both shows being different, the essence lies in the fact that children are always in their truest forms and expect nothing but honesty. A quality that quickly fades away. Stranger Things was a phenomenal success because of the era in which it was set. It gave viewers a sense of nostalgia. The Chosen One tried to do something similar, but the intense story overpowered the nostalgia factor. 

The Midnight Club (2022)

Mike Flannagan is known to have delivered some great shows in the fantasy horror genre. Based on Christopher Pike’s book, the overarching theme of The Midnight Club is terminally ill teenagers living in a hospice trying to find solace by sharing some scary stories. But internally, just like in The Chosen One, there is an undercurrent of melancholy in the show’s theme. The children are again the common factor. We live in an era where many writers and filmmakers give us shows that speak honestly about the emotional turmoil every child goes through. Be it pre-teen kids or teenagers, their struggles exist and are unique. The Midnight Club and The Chosen One tend to bring that up in a mature manner. It is interesting to watch how children are considered honest voices, especially in media like television shows and movies. It validates their issues and allows them to speak up about them. The presence of occult practices is also a theme of Midnight Club. Meanwhile, The Chosen One is about the concept of good vs. evil.

Extraordinary (2023)

Extraordinary is a British comedy series about a bunch of adults living in a world where everyone has a superpower. It can also be termed a coming-of-age superhero drama, where we get to see relationship dynamics as well. Extraordinary, at its core, was all about people discovering themselves and trying to find a foothold amidst all the strengths they have acquired. What makes Extraordinary like The Chosen One is how it attempts to talk about friendship. Jen and Carrie in Extraordinary have been friends for a long time. They go through their ups and downs to understand their love for each other, despite their drawbacks.

In The Chosen One, Jodie has divine powers. He is being given a lot of importance, especially by the village, and his friends are right by his side during his good times. Magda, Tuka, and Hipólito come forward to let Jodie know about his tendencies to gravitate towards people who are buttering up his ego by giving him all the attention. Friendships are the core of both shows. No matter how powerful one gets, it is always the friends and people who know you well who keep you grounded. Jodie, in a way, did have a superpower, but it has not been channeled the way it is supposed to. The viewers are aware of his parentage, and the boy will be brainwashed into using his powers in a certain way. Extraordinary also ended with Jen’s powers finally manifesting, and she is hopeful she will use them to help others and not for her own selfish reasons.

The Boys (2019)

This flagship Amazon Prime Video show changed the way we perceive the superhero genre. The Boys showcased superheroes as messed-up human beings, but thousands of people worship them, and each of them feeds on their popularity. This makes The Chosen One eerily similar to The Boys. The town is filled with deeply religious people who are willing to believe in Jodie. People in both shows are too vulnerable and are constantly fed by the idea that someone, a messiah or superhero, will get rid of atrocities and heal the world.

Both shows are, in a way, satires on how easy it is to make a group of people fall for the lies they are being fed in the name of superpowers and religion. The main plot of the shows are different, yet there is a thin line between them. It reflects the way people behave, which is seen among cult members. Blind faith and fanaticism are the running themes of the shows. Jodie in The Chosen One and Homelander in The Boys are classic examples of megalomaniacs. Jodie showed compassion to his friends in the end, but the footage of the future showed Jodie as the President of the USA on the verge of bombing the holy land.

Armageddon Time (2022)

Armageddon Time is not a superhero film, but it is a coming-of-age drama about a kid who is slowly learning about terms like discrimination and understanding that the world out there is not innocent. Paul Graff in Armageddon Time is of the same age as Jodie in The Chosen One. The coming-of-age aspect is a common factor between this show and the film. Jodie is only trying to figure out the changes happening to his body and maneuver around them. Paul, on the other hand, is also slowly trying to understand the politics of the country his family moved to a couple of decades ago. They both have a set of parents who are always looking out for them and trying to make them understand what is right or wrong. Paul in Armageddon Time seems to understand his grandfather’s words, but Jodie takes another path by the end of the first season of The Chosen One.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most celebrated animated films of this year. Along with its strikingly good animation work, Miles’ and Gwen Stacy’s characters leave a lasting impression. Everything they do is for the greater good, and they have families they go back to. They are worried about being judged by their own family, which forces them to keep their other identities hidden. Despite their superhero personas, Miles and Gwen Stacy are the only kids who are trying to find a foothold. Jodie in The Chosen One does the exact opposite. He refuses to hear what his mother has to say about people blindly following him. Jodie also does not pay any heed to his friends Tuka and Magda when they ask him not to get carried away by fame. The common factor between Across the Spider-Verse and The Chosen One is the children. Their characters are explored in different ways, making both of them a must-watch.

Brightburn (2019)

Brightburn is one of the few superhero films that shows superpowers in a negative light. Not everyone makes good use of it, as showcased in many comic books. Brandon Breyer, as Brightburn, goes fully against what was expected of him. He is a force of evil who does not think twice before murdering people. The movie showcased how a socially awkward kid turns on people he thinks have wronged him. With no psychological explanations behind Brandon’s behavior, the audience is led to believe that no one with a superpower is a good person. In The Chosen One, Jodie has not reached that stage yet where he might take full advantage of his healing powers. How season one ended and the fact that his father is Lucifer help us realize that maybe Jodie is going down the evil path as well. Jodie’s arc began as a nice boy who was made a messiah, but Brandon, as Brightburn, had an arc that did not have a positive beginning or end.

There are plenty of shows and movies in the superhero, fantasy, horror, and coming-of-age genres that excite children and adults alike. This list above is a compilation made by the writer based on the knowledge she acquired by watching these shows and films. Please feel free to comment on your favorite movie or television show that has intrigued you in this genre.