The DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) 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.[1] It began with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and ended with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War for a total of sixteen films.
DC Animated Movie Universe | |
---|---|
Based on | Characters by DC Comics |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release date | 2013–2020; 2022 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The franchise is loosely based on a set of New 52 storylines from the DC Universe. Following a teaser in the franchise's first film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, a five-film story arc loosely based on the "Darkseid War" series written by Geoff Johns, started from Justice League: War and was later revisited in The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen and concluded in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, 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 includes four Batman and Justice League films: Son of Batman in 2014,[2] Batman vs. Robin in 2015,[3] Batman: Bad Blood in 2016,[4] and Batman: Hush in 2019,[5] Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Justice League: War, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and Justice League vs. Teen Titans. Other films include 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, one Suicide Squad (Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay), one Teen Titans (Teen Titans: The Judas Contract) and one Wonder Woman film (Wonder Woman: Bloodlines).
The DC Showcase short Constantine: The House of Mystery was released in May 2022 and is a narrative sequel to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.[6]
The series was succeeded by the Tomorrowverse the same year the DCAMU ended, and will conclude in 2024 after the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths film trilogy.[7]
Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Story by | Producer(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox | July 30, 2013 | Jay Oliva | Jim Krieg | James Tucker | |
Justice League: War | February 4, 2014 | Heath Corson | |||
Son of Batman | April 22, 2014 | Ethan Spaulding | Joe R. Lansdale | ||
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | January 13, 2015 | Ethan Spaulding | Heath Corson | James Robinson | |
Batman vs. Robin | April 7, 2015 | Jay Oliva | J. M. DeMatteis | ||
Batman: Bad Blood | January 20, 2016 | ||||
Justice League vs. Teen Titans | March 29, 2016 | Sam Liu | Bryan Q. Miller and Alan Burnett | Bryan Q. Miller | |
Justice League Dark | January 24, 2017 | Jay Oliva | Ernie Altbacker | J. M. DeMatteis and Ernie Altbacker | |
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract | April 4, 2017 | Sam Liu | Ernie Altbacker | ||
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay | March 27, 2018 | Alan Burnett | Sam Liu | ||
The Death of Superman | July 24, 2018 | Sam Liu and Jake Castorena | Peter J. Tomasi | Sam Liu and Amy McKenna | |
Constantine: City of Demons | October 9, 2018 | Doug Murphy | J. M. DeMatteis | Butch Lukic | |
Reign of the Supermen | January 29, 2019 | Sam Liu | Tim Sheridan and Jim Krieg | James Tucker | |
Batman: Hush | July 20, 2019 | Justin Copeland | Ernie Altbacker | Amy McKenna | |
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines | October 5, 2019 | Sam Liu and Justin Copeland | Mairghread Scott | William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter | Sam Liu and Amy McKenna |
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War | May 5, 2020 | Matt Peters and Christina Sotta | Christina Sotta and Ernie Altbacker | James Tucker |
Writer J. M. DeMatteis was interested in scripting an adaptation of his Batman story arc Going Sane and a New Gods film set in the DC Animated Movie Universe.[8][9]
Film | Release date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Story by | Producer(s) | Home media release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nightwing and Robin | January 14, 2015 | Bruce Timm | Greg Pak, Charles Soule, and Scott Lobdell | Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | ||
Constantine: The House of Mystery | May 3, 2022[10] | Matt Peters | Ernie Altbacker | James Krieg & Rick Morales | DC Showcase Animated Shorts – Constantine: The House of Mystery |
The DCAMU version of the Teen Titans has a cameo in Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans in which the Go! version of the Titans travel throughout the multiverse and run into the DCAMU version.
The CW seed released a five episode animated mini-series titled Constantine: City of Demons written by J. M. DeMatteis in March 2018, sharing continuity with Justice League Dark. Matt Ryan reprises his role as John Constantine. On October 9, the series was re-released as a film as an extended version for DVD and Blu-Ray and later split into two as two episodes on January 19, 2019 on CW Seed.
Title | Issue(s) | Publication date(s) | Writer(s) | Artist(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay | 12 | March 21, 2018 | Jeff Parker | Cat Staggs, Stefano Raffaele, Agustin Padilla, and Mathew Dow Smith |
The Death of Superman: Part 1 | 12 | August 1-October 17, 2018 | Louise Simonson | Cat Staggs |
Key:
Sales figures represent DVD and Blu-ray sales in the United States. International sales, digital sales, and rentals are not included.
Title | Release date | Director(s) | Gross in the 1st three weeks | Gross total | Rotten Tomatoes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox | July 30, 2013 | Jay Oliva | $2,961,457 | $5,263,783 | 100% (5 reviews)[11] | [12] |
Justice League: War | February 4, 2014 | $3,119,314 | $5,806,863 | 50% (6 reviews)[13] | [14] | |
Son of Batman | May 6, 2014 | Ethan Spaulding | $4,071,112 | $7,035,303 | 64% (11 reviews)[15] | [16] |
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis | January 27, 2015 | $2,445,009[17] | $4,661,509 | 63% (8 reviews)[18] | [19] | |
Batman vs. Robin | April 14, 2015 | Jay Oliva | $2,537,343 | $4,275,014 | 100% (5 reviews)[20] | [21] |
Batman: Bad Blood | February 2, 2016 | $3,093,355 | $4,884,919 | 100% (5 reviews)[22] | [23] | |
Justice League vs. Teen Titans | March 26, 2016 | Sam Liu | $2,522,134 | $4,680,315 | 80% (5 reviews)[24] | [25] |
Justice League Dark | January 24, 2017 | Jay Oliva | $1,286,255 | $3,321,532 | 78% (9 reviews)[26] | [27] |
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract | April 18, 2017 | Sam Liu | $1,514,960 | $3,279,855 | 83% (6 reviews)[28] | [29] |
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay | March 27, 2018 | $1,202,526 | $2,880,096 | 88% (8 reviews)[30] | [31] | |
The Death of Superman | July 24, 2018 | Sam Liu and Jake Castorena | $4,219,828 | $6,551,111 | 92% (13 reviews)[32] | [33] |
Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie | October 9, 2018 | Doug Murphy | $750,022 | $1,699,592 | NA (3 reviews)[34] | [35] |
Reign of the Supermen | January 15, 2019 | Sam Liu | — | $3,797,618 | NA (0 reviews)[36] | [37] |
Batman: Hush | July 20, 2019 | Justin Copeland | $2,584,555 | $3,603,543 | 88% (17 reviews)[38] | [39] |
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines | October 5, 2019 | Sam Liu | $764,095 | $1,723,810 | 88% (8 reviews)[40] | [41] |
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War | May 19, 2020 | Matt Peters and Christina Sotta | $1,563,760 | $5,576,143 | 100% (18 reviews) [42] | [43] |
Total: | $39,557,472 | $69,041,006 | — | |||
Average: | $2,702,945 | $4,244,950 | — |