Look in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… just another superhero.
Superheroes are everywhere. No, of course not literally. What I mean is that superheroes are everywhere in the media, to the surprise of no one. Just take a look at the 2026 movie roster: upcoming projects include the new James Gunn DC-verse with Supergirl and Clayface, new insanely hyped-up Marvel movies like Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and even popular standalone shows like Invincible and The Boys that have garnered a lot of audience attention and support. Despite this, the concept of “superhero fatigue” has existed in our society for quite some time, with many growing tired of the repetitive formulas that Hollywood pushes.
In the midst of so much superhero media coming out in 2026, one work stands out from the rest. It’s not a movie, or a show, or a lazy promotional piece for some big-name company to shove in our faces and label as entertainment. Instead, I’m talking about the hit indie game of late 2025 and 2026, Dispatch.
Published by the American developer Adhoc Studio, Dispatch provides a refreshing take on the popular superhero genre
through an episodic, visual novel format, which engages the player while also communicating an effective story. IGN describes it as a superhero-workplace comedy, and that despite its blending of two very different genres, it holds up well both story-wise and engagement-wise. The basic plot follows the protagonist, Robert Robertson III, a former superhero turned civilian who takes up the job of being a dispatcher for reformed supervillains as they try to follow the path to becoming heroes. Not only does this separate Dispatch from other works by having the player view the story from the perspective of a normal guy away from the action, but it also shines a light on the complex morals and views of villains, rather than heroes.
…And people LOVE it. The story, being a visual novel, follows a rather linear path, but it still garners audience engagement through its quick-time events and numerous different endings depending on the choices the player makes. It has received ample praise and favorable reviews from both critics and the general audience alike, selling over three million copies within two months of its initial release. One reviewer from Eneba Hub explains “that the majority of the humor is grounded in character and […] rarely misses the mark,” providing a nice break from the constant stream of the trademarked “Marvel humor” that so many fans have grown tired of. Another fan of the game here in our Archbishop Mitty student body, Franco Sandoval, states that he enjoys Dispatch’s handling of the various side characters in the story. No character feels rushed in terms of writing, and all have their own individual arcs that just add to the amount of care and detail that went into the creation of this game.
Look, I’m not saying all of this to bash on superhero media. Marvel and DC are still going to be beloved by the general public, and no amount of Hollywood overexposure is going to take that away. Superheroes are loved by many people, including myself, and Dispatch is ultimately a reminder as to why people fell in love with the genre in the first place. It’s engaging, it’s funny, and it’s filled with the imaginative creativity that comes hand in hand with the entire concept of superheroes. In a world where creative media is often forced to cut corners in favor of prioritizing consumption over care, Dispatch grounds us back to a time when superheroes gave us hope, not fatigue.