Do animated superhero shows get enough respect?

[Spike Spiegel]

The recent DCEU and MCU threads made me start thinking about the animated versions of these characters--some of which have already covered the ground that is planned by these big franchises.

• Despite all the hoopla over Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, people don't seem to realize there was a Planet Hulk movie almost a decade ago.
  
• A Wonder Woman animated film that treated the character seriously has existed since 2009.
  
• The Bruce Timm/Paul Dini DCAU was going God's work 25 years ago. Most of you are old enough to remember it, so I won't burden you with an explanation.
  
• Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes introduced a variety of characters into a sprawling Marvel animated universe that included the Fantastic Four and X-Men. They adapted "Secret Invasion," "The Korvac Saga," and other well-known stories. It even had Carol Danvers in a prominent role.
  
• The 1990s X-Men show adapted storylines faithfully and kept the characters intact. Also, in 2009's Wolverine and the X-Men, we saw an adult team that had to survive without the aid of the Professor.
  
• Spectacular Spider-Man built on the awareness generated by the Raimi movies without feeling like a retread. Obscure villains were introduced in ways that weren't silly, Norman Osborn was terrifyingly Machiavellian, and we had Gwen Stacy, Black Cat, and MJ.
  
• 2009's Hulk vs. gave us a snarky, gleefully murdering Deadpool and a no-holds-barred version of Wolverine.
  
• DC's Animated Universe line has given us a variety of interpretations of well known stories and characters since 2007. Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series were also pretty good.
  
• Transformers Prime and other recent adaptations of that material take more risks in terms of story than their Michael Bay produced counterparts.
  
• The 2003 and 2012 TMNT cartoons clearly have more to offer than the Michael Bay produced film versions.

Those are just a few examples, I'm sure others can come up with more.

In the mind of the average media consumer, do these things only count as something to be widely viewed and appreciated when they are live action and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make?