All 16 DC Animated Movies in Order (DCAMU)

DC Comics has shown us great characters over the decades, but animated TV series and films became a perfect outlet for producing great DC content besides comic book media. DC Animated Original Movies are a series of American direct-to-video superhero animated movies based on DC Comics characters. We remember many great animated projects from DC in the 1990s and 2000s, but since 2013, DC has decided to create movies that will be placed in the shared universe. For this article, we will focus on the animated movies that are part of the DC Animated Movie Universe, an ongoing story spreading across sixteen movies being released today.

Of course, there are many other animated movies DC produced before 2013. Still, those movies are either standalone or DC Animated Universe, which started with the legendary ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ in 1992 – we will leave those great TV series and movies for another article.

Editor’s Note: This post is regularly updated to bring you the latest developments regarding DCAMU.

How many DC Animated Movie Universe projects are out there?

There are 16 movies released in DC Animated Movie Universe. As we already mentioned, these next movies are part of the DC Animated Movie Universe that started ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox’ in 2013 and ended in 2020 with the movie ‘Justice League: Apokolips War.’

Are DCAMU movies connected? Do you need to watch them in a specific order?

All DCAMU movies are set within the same universe and form one cohesive unit. Not all movies are directly connected, but the events are generally carried over. The most popular characters are recurring, and DCAMU can be considered to be one giant story arc.

As far as watch orders go, you can DCAMU movies either standalone or in their release date order, as it can enhance your understanding of the overall continuity and character arcs

 what is the best way to watch DCAMU movies?

The best way to watch DCAMU movies is in their release date order. This is the most optimal way to understand all the events, characters, and storylines as the creators intended it.

DC Animated Movie Universe projects at a glance

As you can see from the list, DC Animated Movie Universe has 16 movies released. Each movie is based on the New 52 storylines, which started with ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox’ in 2013 and was concluded in 2020 with the movie ‘Justice League: Apokolips War.’ The whole universe mostly revolves around Batman and his son Damian Wayne who eventually becomes a new Robin.

1. ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox‘ (2023)
2. ‘Justice League: War’ (2014)
3. ‘Son of Batman’ (2014)
4. ‘Justice League: Throne of Atlantis’ (2015)
5. ‘Batman vs. Robin’ (2015)
6. ‘Batman: Bad Blood’ (2016)
7. ‘Justice League vs. Teen Titans’ (2016)
8. ‘Justice League Dark’ (2017)
9. ‘Teen Titans: The Judas Contract’ (2017)
10. ‘Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay’ (2018)
11. ‘The Death of Superman’ (2018)
12. ‘Constantine: City of Demons’ (2018)
13. ‘Reign of the Supermen’ (2019)
14. ‘Batman: Hush’ (2019)
15. ‘Wonder Woman: Bloodlines’ (2019)
16. ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips War’ (2020)

Nevertheless, the whole franchise was successful, showcasing DC animators’ superior work over their “live-action” colleagues. The list of animated films is sorted by release date, but don’t worry; the timeline is the same as the release date of the movies. Let’s start!

All 16 DC Animated Movies in order (by release date)

1. ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox‘ (2013)

The DC Animated Movie Universe started with ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox’ movie that was released in 2013. As the movie’s name suggests, the great comic book event Flashpoint appears in the DC Animated Movie Universe.

The Flash decides to go back in time to save his mother from certain death, but by doing so, he disrupts the timeline and almost destroys everything. Now Flash needs to seek help from alternate versions of his fellow heroes and stop Aquaman and Wonder Woman from destroying the whole world with their conflict.

Great movie to start this franchise of movies and universe, where besides Flash, we see dark Aquaman and Wonder Woman wreak havoc around the world and the absence of Justice League to keep everything balanced.

2. ‘Justice League: War‘ (2014)

After Flashpoint, our superheroes are tasked to stop the invasion of Earth by the hands of a New God and Demon Darkseid. The elite group of heroes is part of the “defense squad” against the incredibly powerful foe that is Darkseid, and it includes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Flash, Green Lantern, and Cyborg.

Great cities of DC Universe, Central City, Gotham City, Coast City, and Metropolis are subject to suspicious kidnappings of their citizens, and it was revealed that Parademons are responsible. Green Lantern almost dies at the hands of one creature but is saved by Batman, who, with the help of Superman, discovers that Darkseid threatens the Earth. This movie is as exciting as the previous one, presenting us with the battle against the biggest foe of the DC Universe.

3. ‘Son of Batman‘ (2014)

The third movie on the list is ‘Son of Batman,’ and you can assume what it is about. Son of Batman is a direct adaptation of notable Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert’s comic book storyline from 2006, titled ‘Batman and Son,’ which revolves around the introduction of Damian Wayne to the DC Universe. Damian Wayne is Bruce Wayne’s biological son, whom he got with Talia al Ghul.

Damian Wayne is groomed to be an assassin from birth to succeed his grandfather, Ra’s al Ghul. Of course, everything gets complicated when the leader of the League of Assassins dies at the hands of Slade Wilson, Deathstroke. The League is in disarray, and Talia decides to send her son to his father in Gotham City, where the story truly starts from there.

4. ‘Justice League: Throne of Atlantis‘ (2015)

After every chaos, there is calm, and the aftermath of the ‘Justice League: War’ sees the world at peace. However, a new conflict emerges, and Atlantis is now at the forefront.

The movie directly adapted a Geoff Johns storyline from New 52 titled ‘Throne of Atlantis,’ and it showcases Arthur Curry’s origin story that will be relevant to the DC Animated Movie Universe. Of course, most of the movies titled after the DC characters and not Justice League follow the origins story of the character and their full induction in the story.

5. ‘Batman vs. Robin‘ (2015)

The peace in the DC Animated Movie Universe doesn’t last long because Damian Wayne, now Robin, who still struggles with a new life as a superhero in Gotham City, decides to join The Court of Owls. The secret organization is possibly culpable for killing Waynes in that alleyway in Gotham, and Bruce is suspicious of their activity. However, Bruce gives up on researching the Court of Owls after the lack of evidence.

Cue to the present day, Damian goes out as Robin to rescue innocent children but is intercepted by Anton Schott, but is intercepted by a mysterious figure who kills the criminal on the spot. Batman accuses Robin of murdering the criminal, suggesting that he returned to his old ways, but Damian is innocent.

Batman secures Wayne Manor to prevent young Damian from leaving the premises, and Batman goes to investigate the circumstances of the criminal’s death. Great film that combined a few stories from DC Comics and created a great plot and continuation of the DC Animated Movie Universe.

6. ‘Batman: Bad Blood‘ (2016)

In 2016, we got the sixth film of the DC Animated Movie Universe, which continues six months after the last movie. The film was inspired by Grant Morrison’s work on the Batman series of comic books, mostly by Leviathan storylines.

‘Bad Blood’ presents us with a new character in the DCAMU, Batwoman, also known as Kate Kane. As Batwoman, Kate fights against the criminals of Gotham City, and one night while on patrol, she stumbles upon a crowd of criminals. Tusk, Firefly, Killer Moth, and others are led by a mysterious masked man that calls himself “the Heretic.” Batwoman almost dies in the battle, but Batman saves her and allegedly dies in the fire. Batwoman, Nightwing, and Robin join forces to find Batman and realize there is more to his disappearance than they thought.

7. ‘Justice League vs. Teen Titans‘ (2016)

In this movie, we are introduced to Raven, a child of the demon Trigon and a human named Arella. Trigon destroyed the dimension called Azarath and consequently killed Raven’s mother. When the girl discovered what had happened, she sealed the demon in a magical crystal.

To the present day, Batman sends Damian to Titans for the young superhero group to teach young Robin how to quelch his killing instincts. While Robin tries to “bond” with his new team, Batman and the rest of the Justice League investigate a mysterious entity invading Earth, looking for Raven. The entity causes problems that only Titans can solve.

8. ‘Justice League Dark‘ (2017)

Of the eight movies we presented in this article, ‘Justice League Dark’ is the first one where we see magic. Yes, we finally see DC magic users in the DC Animated Movie Universe, and it’s glorious.

This time, the story revolves around law-abiding citizens suddenly starting to kill other people, believing that the victims were demons. Justice League is convinced the magic is involved, sans Batman, who has other ideas. Nevertheless, this movie introduces John Constantine, Zatanna, Jason Blood, Deadman, Black Orchid, and other DC magic-wielding characters. The movie serves as a great introduction to incredible characters.

9. ‘Teen Titans: The Judas Contract‘ (2017)

The story follows the previous entry in the DC Animated Movie Universe, with Teen Titans being the focus. The team consists of Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, mysterious Terram and Starfire, and Nightwing as leaders of the new Teen Titans.

In this movie, Brother Blood returns to cause chaos, with Deathstroke bounding to join, and the team needs to find a way to settle their differences and internal struggles and defeat dangerous foes.

10. ‘Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay‘ (2018)

From Teen Titans, we move to another notable DC group, Suicide Squad. We would argue that the group of reluctant heroes would rather cause chaos to Justice League members but are tasked with doing missions no one wants to do.

In ‘Hell to Pay,’ Suicide Squad is dispatched by Amanda Waller to retrieve the hard drive containing sensitive information from a criminal, Tobias Whale. However, the betrayal of Count Vertigo and Jewelee leads to the death of one of the members, Punch.

In the present day, Waller discovers that she is extremely ill and dispatches Suicide Squad to retrieve a spe

11. ‘The Death of Superman‘ (2018)

As the name suggests, this film is directly adapting The Death of Superman storyline from the comics, released in 1992. The film follows Superman at the peak of his popularity as a superhero in Metropolis and the world. In the Death of Superman, Lois Lane slowly but surely becomes a love interest of Kal-El’s civilian persona Clark Kent, who is eager to learn more about the Kryptonian.

Of course, not everything stays normal in the DC world, and once again, the notorious alien group Intergang and a mysterious being attack Earth. It is later revealed that Doomsday is the villain wreaking havoc, and Superman once again needs to be the hero the world needs.

12. ‘Constantine: City of Demons‘ (2018)

Magic is back in DCAMU, and this time, the film has an occult detective, John Constantine, in focus. The movie is connected to ‘Justice League Dark’ movie from 2017, and it follows the story of Constantine and his buddy Chas Chandler, who are trying to fix mistakes from the past.

Chas and John go on to cure Chase’s daughter Trish of a demonically induced coma. Besides Constantine and Chase, other characters include Nightmare Nurse, Mictlantecuhtli, and more.

13. ‘Reign of the Supermen‘ (2019)

The movie Reign of the Supermen follows right after ‘The Death of Superman.’ Of course, the death of a Kryptonian superhero increases crime in Metropolis, but the emergence of four different Supermen urges Lois Lane to investigate who they are.

Lex Luthor presents Superboy to the world, a clone of Superman, who will serve as the new protector of Metropolis. Parademons enter the DCAMU once again, and another threat and almost forgotten man is behind the mask of Cyborg Superman. Justice League comes to help, and the original Man of Steel returns to his city to save it once again.

14. ‘Batman: Hush‘ (2019)

We are back with a Batman film, this time an adaptation of a DC Comic book story of the same name. In the film, Batman joins forces with Catwoman to defeat a villain named Hush, who knows all of Bat’s secrets that he uses against the Dark Knight. Of course, Selina and Bruce spark up their passion, but everything gets more complicated when a mysterious foe almost kills Batman.

Everything gets more complicated after that interaction, and Batman, Catwoman, and other strange allies help to uncover who is behind the chaos.

15. ‘Wonder Woman: Bloodlines‘ (2019)

Finally, we get a Wonder Woman movie, where we discover how Diana came to the “man’s world” and left her home island Themyscira to protect the world under the mantle of Wonder Woman. After she rescues Steve Trevor from a Parademon attack, Queen Hippolyta disowns her daughter for breaking the rules and deciding she wants to protect the world.

In the present day, Diana is approached by Julia Kapatelis, the geologist whose daughter Vanessa has stolen a valuable artifact from her superior, Veronica Cale, which she will sell to the criminals. Wonder Woman needs to help the troubled girl discover what is happening.

16. ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips War‘ (2020)

We reached the end of the DCAMU with the film ‘Justice League Dark: Apokalips War.’ The story we followed from the Flashpoint has ended and is glorious. The movie is based on three DC comic storylines – “Darkseid’s War” by Geoff Johns, “Final Crisis” by Grant Morrison, and “Futures End.”

‘Apokalips War’ sees Earth’s heroes fumbling the invasion on Apokalips, which Darkseid uses to his advantage and destroys half of the team. Earth is now under the ownership of Darkseid, and the remaining heroes try their best to get their planet back. All characters and heroes from previous films are gathered together for a big crossover, and the movie marks a perfect ending to the DC Animated Movie Universe story continuity.

Will there be more DCAMU movies?

While the DCAMU phase is over, there are plenty of animated films based on DC characters currently being released as a part of the ‘Tomorrowverse.’ The story arc of DCAMU, however ended in 2020 with the release of ‘Justice League Dark: Apokolips War’

 Where to watch DCAMU movies? 

If you’re in the US, you can watch all DCAMU movies on Max (previously known as HBO Max). The platform is your best bet to find all DC-related content.

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