How to Watch the DCU in Order
Here's the complete list of movies and TV shows you'll need to watch to catch up on James Gunn's DC Universe.
DC Comics fans know one thing about the continuities and stories of their favorite characters: they will be rebooted before too long. While it occurred in an informal way for decades, the publishing company made it an event starting with 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since then, large and small reboots have occurred every decade or so with characters changing dramatically and stories disappearing from history. It is, in its way, inevitable.
The various film and television properties tried to recreate the sensation of Crisis only once — The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event in 2019 — but creative reboots occur quite often for the DC characters. 1989’s Batman and its sequels live in its own distinct universe from The Dark Knight Trilogy, and both are separate from the current reality of The Batman. See also the 1980s Superman movies and the DC-inspired TV shows outside of The CW’s Arrowverse.
Meanwhile, in feature films, the first attempt to create a cohesive DC film universe began with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and effectively ended with 2023’s The Flash. Now, a new shared film reality, the DC Cinematic Universe (or DCU) is taking flight with a handful of films and shows already available. Spearheaded by current DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, the idea is to make a reality in which filmmakers and showrunners can create distinct tones and stories while still sharing characters, plot lines, and settings.
Of course, as DC reboots tend to hold onto one or two things from the previous continuity, the new DCU isn’t as simple as “start from the 2025 Superman.” Below is the current and best viewing order to keep up to date as HBO’s Lanterns and James Watkins’ feature film Clayface further expand the new universe. Sure, Peacemaker may have originally been devised for the Snyder reality, but it still has weight in the current state of play. Meanwhile, The Batman, its upcoming sequel, and The Penguin television series exist outside of the DCU. The minutia isn’t so daunting once you see it all laid out and, ultimately, it’s just part of the fun. Also, since it is still early in DCU history, it is quite easy to catch-up on the stories so far. Take a look and get ready for people akin to gods, a few monsters, and plenty of lovable misfits.
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