DC Animated Movie Universe
The DC Animated Movie Universe is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Home Video. The films are part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line, based on the comic books published by DC Comics, and feature plot elements inspired by The New 52 continuity. The continuity, established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters, was introduced in ', which was released in 2013. Sequels to The Flashpoint Paradox, Son of Batman, and Justice League Dark co-exist with this continuity. The franchise has been successful, receiving positive reviews for its themes and creative direction, and has obtained high sales. As of 2020, sixteen films have been distributed. ' marks the final film of this specific line.
Development
The franchise is loosely based off a set of New 52 storylines from the DC Universe. Following a teaser in the franchise's first film ', a five-film story arc loosely based on the "Darkseid War" series written by Geoff Johns, started from ' and was later revisited in The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen and concluded in ', the sequel to 2017's Justice League Dark. The franchise heavily focuses on Batman and his son Damian Wayne, the latter of whom becomes the new Robin in this continuity.The franchise also includes four Batman and Justice League films: Son of Batman in 2014, Batman vs. Robin in 2015, ' in 2016, and ' in 2019, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Justice League: War, ' and Justice League vs. Teen Titans, two Justice League Dark films: Justice League Dark in 2017 and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War in 2020, two Superman films: The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen and one Suicide Squad one Teen Titans and one Wonder Woman:.
Films
''Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox'' (2013)
wakes up in an alternate timeline, later known as Flashpoint, where he isn’t The Flash and meets Thomas Wayne, who is the Batman of the timeline. As he works his way to restore his old timeline, Barry must also contend with Professor Zoom, who appears to be behind everything.The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray July 30, 2013 and is based on the comic book series "Flashpoint" by Geoff Johns.
''Justice League: War'' (2014)
When the Mad Dark and Demon Titan and New God Darkseid comes to invade Earth, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Shazam and Cyborg come together to save the Earth.The film was released on January 21, 2014 and is based on the comic book “Justice League: Origin” by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. It features the voice talents of Jason O'Mara as Batman, Alan Tudyk as Superman, Michelle Monaghan as Wonder Woman, Christopher Gorham as The Flash, Justin Kirk as Green Lantern, Shemar Moore as Cyborg, Sean Astin as Shazam, Steven Blum as Darkseid, and Rocky Carroll as Dr. Silas Stone. A sequel to the film, , was released January 13, 2015.
''Son of Batman'' (2014)
-based vigilante Batman discovers he has a son Damian Wayne trained by the League of Assassins as Slade Wilson vows revenge on Damian for being chosen to be the heir of the League instead of him.The film was released on April 22, 2014 and is based on the comic book “Batman and Son” by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. The film introduces Damian Wayne to the universe. A sequel to the film, Batman vs. Robin, was released on April 22, 2015.
''Justice League: Throne of Atlantis'' (2015)
, the half-Atlantean Prince of Atlantis, teams up with the newly found Justice League to stop his brother Orm from going to war with the surface world after blaming them for the death of his father it was Orm's lies after he attacked Atlantis killed his mother and Darkseid who killed Orm's father.The film was released on January 13, 2015 and is based on comic book “Throne of Atlantis” by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The film introduces Aquaman to the universe. A tie-in film titled Nightwing and Robin was released set during the events of the film.
''Batman vs. Robin'' (2015)
Damian Wayne, Bruce's son and now the current Robin, becomes angered at his father's moral code. He trains with the mysterious assassin Talon to become a member of the Court of Owls, a secret organisation lurking in the shadows of Gotham.The film was released on April 7, 2015. The film features the Court of Owls. The film is loosely based on the comic book “Batman: The Court of Owls”, as well as sharing influences from "Batman and Robin: Born to Kill". A sequel to the film, , was released in January 2016
''Batman: Bad Blood'' (2016)
With Batman missing, Damian returns from his isolation, Dick Grayson takes up the mantle of Batman and an aspiring Batwoman emerges, while a new enemy called the Heretic and Damian’s mother Talia al Ghul plots to destroy Gotham.The film was released on January 20, 2016. It features an original story by J.M. DeMatteis. It introduces Batwoman and Batwing to the universe. Batgirl also makes a non-speaking cameo appearance at the very end of the movie, right before the end credits.
''Justice League vs. Teen Titans'' (2016)
Following a demonic attack on Earth, the demon Trigon re-emerges prompting the Teen Titans to team up with the Justice League.The film premiered at WonderCon in Los Angeles on March 26, 2016. It introduces the Teen Titans to the universe. It features an original story by Bryan Q. Miller.
''Justice League Dark'' (2017)
Batman is sent to find John Constantine after a supernatural threat occurs in Metropolis, who recruits a group of other magical heroes to fight the being Doctor Destiny, revealed to be behind the threats.The film was released digitally on January 24, 2017 and on DVD and Blu-ray on February 7, 2017. It is an adaptation of Peter Milligan's "Justice League Dark" series and introduces the team of the same name to the universe.
''Teen Titans: The Judas Contract'' (2017)
Cult leader Brother Blood hires Deathstroke to capture the Titans, who have been spied on by a mole revealed to be their new member Terra, to be part of an experiment that will supposedly make Blood a god.The film was released April 4, 2017 and is based on the comic book "The Judas Contract" by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.
''Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay'' (2018)
recruits a group of criminals led by Floyd Lawton to retrieve a magical “Get Out Of Hell Free” card which is also being hunted by immortal being Vandal Savage and speedster Professor Zoom, who survived his death in the alternate timeline Flashpoint.The film was announced at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 10, 2018. It features an original story by Alan Burnett.
''The Death of Superman'' (2018)
After a monster crash lands on Earth and severly weakens the Justice League, Superman becomes their only hope in defeating it but at a life threatening cost.Despite the story being previously adapted in the first DC Universe Animated Original Movie, , this said, the movie greatly altered and condensed the original comic story to fit it within a 75-minute runtime. The Death of Superman was written to be much more faithful to the original story; according to DC's Tim Beedle, the film is "much less condensed and will include many of the fan-favorite moments from the story that were left out of Doomsday".
''Reign of the Supermen'' (2019)
Six months following the death of Superman, four new Supermen have emerged and become controversial to the world as they battle to become the next Superman. One of the Supermen - Cyborg Superman is being controlled by Darkseid from Apokolips to invade the world.Reign of the Supermen is the second part of a two-part film that started with The Death of Superman and was released in January 2019. The film is based on the comic storyline of the same name which was a follow up to The Death of Superman comic. The film features Superboy, Steel, the Eradicator and Cyborg Superman. It was released digitally on January 15, 2019 and was released on Blu-ray and DVD January 29.
''Batman: Hush'' (2019)
A mysterious vigilante calling himself “Hush” threatens Batman’s life as he develops a romantic relationship with reformed thief Catwoman.The film was announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2018, it was released digitally on July 19, 2019 and was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 6, 2019. It stars Jason O'Mara as Batman, Geoffrey Arend as Hush, Jerry O'Connell as Superman and Jennifer Morrison as Catwoman. The film is based on the.
''Wonder Woman: Bloodlines'' (2019)
Wonder Woman, who has been an aspiring superheroine for five years, goes up against a criminal organisation known as Villainy Inc. consisting of villains from her past who plot to destroy the island of Themyscira and take over the Amazons' technology.The film was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2018. It was released October 5, 2019 on digital platforms and was released October 22, 2019 on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. Rosario Dawson reprises her role as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman from previous films.
''Justice League Dark: Apokolips War'' (2020)
The Justice League decides to take a preemptive- attack on Darkseid’s home planet, Apokolips. Darkseid knows their plans and has the entire League ambushed by new creatures called Paradooms, genetic hybrids of Parademons and Doomsday. Most of the Justice League members are killed or captured. Batman is forced into the Mobius Chair to become Darkseid’s ally. Superman is injected with liquid Krptonite which strips him off his powers and released back to earth. The Flash is converted to be Apokolips’ new core. Now the surviving members of the League, the Teen Titans and the Suicide Squad band together for one last ditch effort to end Darkseid's tyranny and save the Earth.The film was announced July 2019 during San Diego Comic-Con. Previous DCAMU voice actors are set to reprise their roles from previous films with Hynden Walch replacing Tara Strong as Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay. It released on digital platforms on May 5, 2020, and is scheduled to be released on 4k/Blu-Ray DVD on May 19, 2020. Christina Sotta and Ernie Altbacker provided the script while Matt Peters and Sotta directed the film. It is the final film in the DC Animated Movie Universe.
Expanded setting
''Nightwing and Robin''
A 1 minute short film set during the events of . The two main characters are called upon by Batman to find and capture the Scarecrow since he had to help the Justice League. While Jason O'Mara reprises Batman in this short, only his voice is heard while Nightwing and Robin have no dialogue.''Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans''
The DCAMU versions of Nightwing, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven appear in Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, with Sean Maher briefly reprising his role as Nightwing. They first appear when the two Titans teams from the 2003 Teen Titans animated series and the 2013 Teen Titans Go! animated series are escaping from Santa Claus by traveling to alternate universes. They are later summoned to fight alongside the Titans of Infinite Earths against Hexagon.Timeline
In the DCAMU, the films never make their exact years known. However, many continuity errors are shown in this franchise including the opening scene of Teen Titans: The Judas Contract taking place five years earlier before Justice League: War stating that the Teen Titans were established before the Justice League while the prolouge of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines takes place during the Parademon attack from Justice League: War which also features the first meeting between Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, however, in Justice League: War it shows that they have known eachother for a while. It is also unclear when in the timeline Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox takes place as Batman’s new suit featured in Batman: Hush was shown at the end of the film showing possibility that the former is set before the latter. The former film’s events are also revisited in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay with the Reverse-Flash surviving Flashpoint Batman’s gunshot to his forehead. A time jump of two years is featured in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War from 2020 to 2022. Later in the film, the events of Flashpoint was revisited again when John Constantine frees Flash from his slavery of Darkseid. Following the League’s defeat against Darkseid, Flash resets the timeline once again creating a second Flashpoint.Despite Justice League Dark: Apokolips War being the final film in the franchise, a new dc animated film titled will be released although it hasn’t been revealed whether it will be continued from this timeline or set up a completely new franchise and timeline.
| Year | Feature films |
| 2012 | Teen Titans: The Judas Contract |
| 2014 | Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, Justice League: War, Son of Batman |
| 2015 | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Nightwing and Robin, Batman vs. Robin |
| 2016 | Batman: Bad Blood, Justice League vs. Teen Titans |
| 2017 | Justice League Dark, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract |
| 2018 | Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, The Death of Superman, Constantine: City of Demons |
| 2019 | Reign of the Supermen, Batman: Hush, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines |
| 2020 | Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.’’ |
| 2022 | Justice League Dark: Apokolips War'' |
Comic books
''Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay''
The digital-first series Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay was released on March 21, 2018, and features 12 digital issues. It serves as a sequel to the.''The Death of Superman: Part 1''
On August 1, 2018, DC announced a 12-part, weekly digital comic series titled The Death of Superman: Part 1. This series, written by veteran Superman writer Louise Simonson serves as a prequel to the film. Some aspects of the series contradict events previously established in the DC Animated Movie Universe, most notably the Parademon invasion as depicted in .In the US, retailer Best Buy offered an exclusive "Deluxe Edition" Blu-ray containing a hardcover graphic novel titled The Death of Superman: The Wake, which compiles the last four chapters of the series. In these chapters, Superman's colleagues share memories of their friend as they clean up the debris of the damaged Hall of Justice.
Future
In September 2017, writer J.M. DeMatteis responded to a question on twitter regarding a Batman film for the DCAMU continuity:He later responded to another comment on the thread expressing interest in a New Gods movie:
As of 2020, no other reports on the films have been expressed nor if they will see the light of day due to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War being the last film within the DCAMU continuity. However, in May 2020, screenwriter Ernie Altbacker teased the possibility of a new project related to that continuity. He stated: