Created by Jon Brown, produced by Armando Iannucci and directed by Sam Mendes, “The Franchise” centers on the cast and crew of a second-string superhero film.

The new HBO series “The Franchise” satirizes the making of a superhero movie by a fictional movie studio that is Marvel in all but name. (The actual fictional name is Maximum Studios.) Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO’s parent, is Marvel’s bitter rival in the superhero field, so you might expect the show to offer an extra measure of savage mockery.

Which is a stealth joke within “Tecto,” and “The Franchise,” and a mischievous stroke of satire that transcends an already absorbing storyline. Mr. Anderson is the Journal’s TV critic.