You thought comic book continuity was difficult? It’s got nothing on DC‘s animated continuity. Over multiple decades, animated movies and TV shows have flaunted a loose continuity that often changes and reboots depending on voice talent involved, corporate dictates, or otherwise. And if you’re looking to watch the DC animated movies in order… Well, that’s a tough thing to do.
Or, is it? Yes, it is, because there are 73 movies — most of which are available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max) — that are about to be technically wiped out of continuity as James Gunn is rebooting and unifying the universe in his new DCU.
That’s… a lot of movies. But if you’re a completist, and if you’re a comic book fan that’s probably seared in your DNA, you’re going to want to watch them all. The good news is a Reddit user named WatsUpWithJoe already did the hard work of jotting it down. So let’s get into the complete viewing order of every DC Animated Movie.
ORIGINS:
We’re already starting on a non-chronological note, but WatsUpWithJoe seems to lump all of these origin movies into one chunk. Which is good! If you have no background with DC Comics, animated movies, etc, this will get you caught up on the marquee characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman quickly.
- Batman: Year One
- Batman: Gotham Knight
- Wonder Woman (2009)
- Green Lantern: First Flight
- Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
- All-Star Superman
- DC Showcase: Superman / Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam
- Superman / Batman: Public Enemies
- Superman / Batman: Apocalypse
- Superman: Unbound
- Batman: Under the Red Hood
- Batman: Death in the Family
- Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
- Justice League: Doom
THE DCAU (AKA: THE DINIVERSE):
To editorialize a bit, if you want to start somewhere? Start here. Or rather, start with Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League: Unlimited. Then continue with these movies. Kicking off in 1992 with Batman: TAS, this universe from Bruce Timm and Paul Dini is the definitive interpretation of DC in animation, and what inspired everything that came afterward. Mask of the Phantasm is also the best Batman movie ever made, so that’s a pretty good kick off to your binge.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
- The Batman / Superman Movie
- Superman: Brainiac Attacks
- Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
- Batman and Harley Quinn
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
THE DC ANIMATED MOVIE UNIVERSE:
Ready to get confused? The DCAU is a different thing that the DCAMU. Acronyms! In 2013, the decision was made to begin unifying all these disparate animated projects again, loosely inspired by DC Comics’ New 52. The long list you see below involves popular movies like Batman vs. Robin, and Flashpoint Paradox, which is a more definitive take on the comic book than the recent live-action The Flash.
- Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox
- Justice League: War
- Son of Batman
- Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
- Batman vs. Robin
- Batman: Bad Blood
- Justice League vs. Teen Titans
- Justice League Dark
- Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
- Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
- The Death of Superman
- Constantine: City of Demons
- Reign of the Supermen
- Batman: Hush
- Wonder Woman: Bloodlines
- Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
- Constantine: House of Mystery
THE TOMORROWVERSE:
In 2020, the DCAMU ended and was succeeded by The Tomorrowverse. In classic DC fashion, it still connects in some ways to the DCAMU, and itself is ending this year with a trilogy of movies based on Crisis on Infinite Earths. The first one was released on January 23, 2024, with two more to follow on TBA dates.
- Superman: Man of Tomorrow
- Justice Society: World War II
- Batman: The Long Halloween
- Green Lantern: Beware My Power
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Justice League: Warworld
- Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths
ANIMATED ELSEWORLDS:
Elseworlds has been a long-standing franchise in DC Comics, the publisher’s version of Marvel’s What If…? The difference is that it’s less of a branching-off point than a story set in another part of the multiverse. So Batman is a vampire, or Superman landed in Russia instead of Kansas. There’s no real continuity to the below, for the most part, but they are fun one-offs. While we’re lauding things, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is one of the best superhero movies ever made, so be sure to check that one out.
Also of note: this branding will stick around through this year, as James Gunn will be labeling anything outside the main DCU continuity as Elseworlds. So we’ll see upcoming animated movies like a new adaptation of Watchmen under this banner.
- Superman: Red Son
- Superman vs. The Elite
- Superman: Doomsday
- The Batman vs. Dracula
- Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
- Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
- Batman: Ninja
- Batman Vs the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons
- Batman: Soul of the Dragon
- Catwoman: Hunted
- Batman: The Caped Crusader
- Batman Vs Two-Face
- Batman: The Killing Joke
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
- Justice League: The New Frontier
- Justice League Vs The Fatal Five
- Justice League: Gods and Monsters
- Injustice
- Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
- Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
- Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans
- Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons
- Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires / Batman Azteca: Choque De Imperios (Release Date TBA)
- Watchmen (Release Date TBA)
ARKHAMVERSE:
One more universe before we wrap up! The Arkhamverse is a series of animated movies set directly in the same universe as the Batman: Arkham video games. You don’t have to have played them to enjoy this, but if you played them and enjoyed them you might like these movies, as well.
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Batman: Assault on Arkham
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Arkham City
- Batman: Arkham Knight
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