DC Comics created the “DC Cinematic Universe” in response to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the “DCEU” (for DC Extended Universe, the other name of the DC cinematic universe), there are a dozen films already released whose main characters are members of the Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or even Aquaman. But beware, the films released in the last 10 years with DC Comics characters are not necessarily part of this universe. We are taking stock of this case.
If you’re more Superman and Batman than Spider-Man and Captain America, that means you’re more DC Comics that marvel comics. The anthology of characters is as grandiose on one side as on the other. At Marvel, there is Iron Man, Captain Marvel, the X-Men, Hulk, Thor, Fantastic Four, etc. And at DC, you find Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, etc. And each universe has its own “paw”.
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These two publishers have been fighting on the shelves of kiosks, booksellers and comic book shops since the end of the 1930s in the United States. But they also clash on television and… in the cinema. Even if the films of the Marvel heroes monopolize the box office today (in particular with the Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which have recently broken many records), these are the films of Superman in 1978 and Batman in 1989 that viewers remembered more.
Hoping to find a good dynamic in the cinema and benefit from the craze for superhero films (thanks to the efforts of Marvel), DC has made the decision to create your own universe for the cinema. With the same consistency. With the same care given to the visual. But not necessarily with the same scriptwriting strategy. The project is formalized by Warner Bros, the parent company of DC Comics, in 2008. The decision is made thanks to the commercial success of The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan. And the first film to be part of this universe is man of steelthe reboot of Superman released in 2013.
As with the comics, the DC universe in film and television is not unique, but multiple. Some films, even among the most recent, are not included. This is the case of Jokerreleased in 2017, and The Batman, released this year. We did not retain them for this case. The same for the series of ”Arrowverse”: Arrow, Flash, Constantine, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman and Superman & Lois (the 2021 reboot). Here we offer two ways to see the films of the DC Cinematic Universe. It’s up to you to choose the one that suits you best.
Order of movies by release date
The cinematographic universe today is made up ofabout ten films released at the cinema, including the original version of Justice League by Zack Snyder. Here we offer you a fairly classic viewing order: that of the release of the films. We leave here the original version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League at its release date. We also include the four confirmed films which will be released between 2022 and 2023 and the peacemaker series scheduled for next year on HBO Max as it is a spinoff of the Suicide Squad movies.
- Man of Steel (2013)
- Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Justice League (2017)
- Aquaman (2018)
- Shazam! (2019)
- Birds of Prey (2020)
- Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2021)
- Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- Peacemaker (series) (2022)
- Black Adam (expected October 19, 2022)
- Shazam Fury of the Gods (expected December 21, 2022)
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (due March 15, 2023)
- The Flash (scheduled for June 21, 2023)
Movie order according to the DC Universe timeline
For this second order, we took care to respect the chronological order of the scripts of the films. Indeed, some films take place before other feature films previously released in cinemas. This is especially the case with Wonder Woman.. This new order therefore wants to be more respectful of the chronology of the universe. And this even if consistency is not always there. We have not included the films currently in production, because the script of these films could change this order.
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2021)
- Man of Steel (2013)
- Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- Justice League (2017)
- Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
- Aquaman (2018)
- Shazam! (2019)
- Birds of Prey (2020)
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- Peacemaker (series) (2022)
Note that since 2017 and the release of Wonder Woman, Warner Bros and DC Comics prefer that DC Cinematic Universe films are more independent of each other. And this even if the next film The Flash, nicknamed Flashpoint in reference to the eponymous comics during which Flash reorganized the multiverse of DC, will include at least two versions of Batman. This file will continue to be updated as future movies hit theaters or hit streaming services. And if that’s not enough for you, you can always take a look at the competition and our file on Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
