Ben 10: Alien Force

Fifteen-year-old Ben Tennyson returns to action after a five year break, slipping the Omnitrix back on and discovering it now converts him into ten entirely new alien forms. Older and more cautious, he teams up with his clever cousin Gwen and his unpredictable former rival Kevin Levin, who now fights at his side. Their main goal is finding Grandpa Max, who has gone missing, while confronting a new extraterrestrial menace, the DNAliens, whose plans threaten Earth and beyond. The series balances high-stakes battles with personal moments as Ben deals with growing responsibilities and the changing dynamics among the trio.

Created by Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey and Joe Kelly, Ben 10: Alien Force premiered in 2008 as the next chapter in the Ben 10 saga. The show features Yuri Lowenthal as Ben, Ashley Johnson as Gwen and Greg Cipes as Kevin, and it kept the franchise’s animated action style while shifting to a slightly older, more serialized tone.

The series left a clear mark on fans of animated superhero stories, introducing new alien designs and recurring villains that became staples in later Ben 10 media. Its visuals and character upgrades helped the franchise stay relevant, inspiring toys, comics and continued animated sequels that built on Alien Force’s aesthetic and narrative choices.

Critics and viewers generally responded well, with fan ratings reflecting strong approval, the show holding around an 8.3/10 average from over a thousand votes. Reviewers often noted the series’ darker mood compared with the original, its focus on team dynamics, and how it treated maturation, identity and responsibility in a way that appealed to both younger viewers and teens.

While Alien Force didn’t dominate mainstream television awards, it earned appreciation within animation communities and among genre fans for tightening the franchise’s storytelling and tone. Its success helped secure more installments in the Ben 10 universe, and it remains one of the entries that many fans point to when discussing the series’ evolution.