Watching the DC movies in order is just as easier than jumping tall buildings in one go. And while most of them stay in the same spot so you don’t have to stream them faster than a bullet or live in your personal Bat-Cave watching them all for fear they’ll be taken, one is out of the loft flown.
While most DCEU movies featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Man, and the rest are usually found in the same location (HBO Max), not all of them are available there. It’s not as easy as watching the Marvel movies in order, which is a breeze thanks to Disney Plus. In any case, the upcoming The Flash movie will eventually head to HBO Max after hitting theaters first.
Watching DC movies in release order is a fairly simple process, but it gets a bit more complicated if you want to see them in chronological order.
Latest DC Movies News (Updated March 16)
• Joker teased for The Batman 2.
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash have been pushed back to 2023.
• Man of Steel is not on each subscription-based streaming service no more.
For this guide, we’ll focus on the DC Extended Universe movies, which started with 2013’s Man of Steel. But there are a lot of previous movies adapted from DC Comics, starting in 1951 with Superman and the Mole Men. So this list doesn’t include any of those titles, nor recent films like 2019’s Joker with Joaquin Phoenix or The Batman with Robert Pattinson.
DC and its sibling studio Warner Bros. have been making several Batman and Superman movies for decades, but the DCEU is the first shared cinematic universe to include multiple superhero characters.
DC Movies in Release Order
As of January 2022, there are 11 DC movies that take place in the expanded universe.
The main characters are Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Zachary Levi as Shazam and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.
Here are the DC movies in order of release, along with where to stream them online.
1. Man of Steel (2013)
Cast: Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and Russell Crowe as Jor-El
Buy or rent on Apple† Amazon and others
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Cast: Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Stream on HBO Max
3. Suicide Squad (2016)
Cast: Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as the Joker, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
Stream on HBO Max
4.Wonder Woman (2017)
Cast: Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, Robin Wright as General Antiope and David Thewlis as Ares
Stream on HBO Max
5. Justice League (2017)
Cast: Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash and Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Stream on HBO Max
6. Aquaman (2018)
Cast: Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane / Black Manta and Nicole Kidman as Atlanna
Stream on HBO Max
7. Shazam! (2019)
Cast: Zachary Levi as Shazam, Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Silvana, Jack Dylan as Freddy Freeman and Djimon Hounsou as Shazam
Stream on HBO Max
8. Birds of Prey (2020)
Cast: Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance/Black Canary, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz and Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis / Black Mask:
Stream on HBO Max
9.Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Cast: Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as General Antiope and Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta
Stream on HBO Max
10. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lanee, Connie Nielsen, JK Simmons
Stream on HBO Max (along with the black and white “Justice Is Gray” edition)
11. The Suicide Squad (2021)
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi
Stream on HBO Max
DC Movies in Chronological Order
If you want to watch the DC movies in chronological order, you will find that it is very different from the release order. You start with…
1. Wonder Woman
Set mostly 1918 during World War I; flashbacks to the ancient era of the gods
2. Wonder Woman 1984
Set in 1984; prologue indefinitely on the island of Themyscira
3. Man of Steel
Established about 2013; prologue to Krypton about 20 years earlier; flashbacks to Clark Kent’s childhood in Smallville
4. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Set circa 2015, about 18 months after Man of Steel; flashbacks to Bruce Wayne’s childhood in 1981; flashforwards to post-apocalyptic earth
5. Suicide Squad
Set circa 2016, about a year after Batman v Superman; flashbacks to events before Man of Steel
6a. Justice League
Set around 2017, roughly two years after Batman v Superman and a year after Suicide Squad; flashback of Steppenwolf’s takeover attempt thousands of years earlier
6b. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Director’s cut and alternate version of the film
7. Aquaman
Set around 2017, several months after Justice League; flashbacks to 1985 and Arthur Curry’s childhood
8. Shazam!
Set during Christmas 2018; flashback to 1974 of Thaddeus Sivana’s origin story
9. Birds of Prey
Set around 2020, about four years after Suicide Squad
10. The Suicide Squad
It will be set in 2021, confirmed by director James Gunn.
DC Movies in Order: Coming Soon
Here are the next DCEU movies hitting theaters. Check out our full list of upcoming DC movies for more:
More Guides to Watching Movies — How to Watch:
Black Adam (July 29, 2022)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodg as Hawkman, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone and Marwan Kenzari
The Flash (November 4, 2022)
Director: Andy Muschietti
Cast: Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Sasha Calle as Supergirl
Aquaman 2 (December 16, 2022)
Director: unknown
Cast: Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as David Kane/Black Manta
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (June 2, 2023)
Director: unknown
Cast: Zachary Levi as Shazam, Michelle Borth as Mary Marvel
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