The Justice League and its heroes and villains were what the main stories that the DC Extended Universe centered around.
- "I want all the other directors of the other films to be able to stretch their legs and do what they want, but at the same time there is a big interconnected universe."
- ―Zack Snyder in a 2015 interview[src]
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU)[1][2] or the Snyderverse and designated as the reality Earth-1 within the Multiverse system,[3] was a collection of interconnected films and other media based on characters that appear in publications by DC Comics, produced by Warner Bros. and DC Studios. The universe largely spans films, though many tie-in media have been produced, such as comics, novels, guidebooks, short films, and video games.
Starting with Man of Steel, the franchise is comprised mainly of films, that are primarily set within this same universe, expanding into TV series with season 1 of Peacemaker.
The DC Extended Universe was largely rebooted with the DC Universe, ushering in a new era for the main continuity of DC films. The new universe officially launched with the release of Creature Commandos in 2024, with the first live-action film, Superman, arriving in July 2025.
Etymology
While widely accepted as the name of the film franchise that started with Man of Steel in 2013, the name "DC Extended Universe" has had a strange and often inconsistent history in how it is used by fans, the media, and the filmmakers behind actual DCEU content.
When it was announced that Man of Steel would be the start of a new cinematic universe for DC Entertainment, this new universe was popularly referred to by fans and the media as the "DC Cinematic Universe" (DCCU), keeping with the naming convention of the already established Marvel Cinematic Universe. On July 1, 2015, the term "DC Extended Universe™" was jokingly coined by Entertainment Weekly writer Keith Staskiewicz in an article detailing EW's first look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[4] This term and the abbreviation "DCEU" quickly spread among the media and fans, thinking of it as the official name of the franchise. Later that July, Zack Snyder himself would refer to the franchise as the DC Extended Universe when commenting about future plans for an interconnected universe with different filmmakers helming projects.[5] In September 2017, officials at Warner Bros. and DC confirmed to Vulture writer Abraham Reisman that the term was not used internally and was not considered official.[6] In 2016, the franchise was called the "Justice League universe" by Geoff Johns and Kevin Smith in the TV special DC Films Presents: The Dawn of the Justice League.
During the DC Films panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, a video banner displayed the words "Welcome to the Worlds of DC" after showcasing some of the studio's upcoming films. As a result of this, some media outlets and fans interpreted this as DC officially naming their shared universe "Worlds of DC," however this would not hold true.
In March 2020 during a panel at C2E2, DC Comics publisher Jim Lee officially referred to the franchise as the DC Extended Universe, and the name was seemingly set in stone when a "DC Extended Universe" category was included with the launch of Max. However, HBO Max has since pulled the name from their platform for unknown reasons.
In 2021, James Gunn confirmed that the 'DCEU' label was still being used internally.[7] Various official articles for DC Comics have since continued to use the label to refer to the interconnected film universe.[8]
Films
Released
Other
- Main article: Unrealized and other DCEU projects
TV series
| TV series | Season(s) | Episodes | Originally released | Showrunner(s) | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||||
| Peacemaker | 1 | 8 | January 13, 2022 | February 17, 2022 | Max | James Gunn | Released |
| The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus | 1 | 6 | July 10, 2023 | Henry Loevner | |||
Short Films
Tie-In
- Etta's Mission (2017)
- Black Adam precursor (2020)
Promotional
Comics
- Man of Steel Prequel (2013)
- Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- General Mills Presents Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Upstairs/Downstairs (2016)
- Suicide Blonde (2016)
- Secret Files of the Suicide Squad (2016)
- Mercedes-Benz Presents: Justice League (2017)
- Superhero Hooky (2019)
- Wonder Woman 1984 #1 (2020)
- Serving Up Justice (2021)
- Black Adam - The Justice Society Files (2022)
- The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive (2022)
- Shazam! Thundercrack (2023)
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods Special: Shazamily Matters (2023)
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special (2023)
- Aquaman: Through Fire and Water (2024)
Books
Novels
- Man of Steel: The Early Years: Junior Novel (2013)
- Man of Steel: The Official Movie Novelization (2013)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Cross Fire (2016)
- Suicide Squad: The Official Movie Novelization (2016)
- Wonder Woman: The Junior Novel (2017)
- Wonder Woman: The Official Movie Novelization (2017)
- Aquaman: The Junior Novel (2018)
- Aquaman: Undertow (2018)
- Shazam!: The Junior Novel (2019)
- Wonder Woman 1984: The Junior Novel (2020)
Companion Books
- Man of Steel: Friends and Foes (2013)
- Man of Steel: Reusable Sticker Book (2013)
- Man of Steel: Superman Saves Smallville (2013)
- Man of Steel: Superman's Superpowers (2013)
- Man of Steel: Superman Takes Flight (2013)
- Man of Steel: The Fate of Krypton (2013)
- Man of Steel: Sheet Music Selections from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Piano Solos (2013)
- Guide to the Caped Crusader/Guide to the Man of Steel (2016)
- Time Out Shortlist Gotham and Metropolis (2016)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Tech Manual (2016)
- Batman v Superman Annual 2017 (2016)
- Justice League: Sticker Activity Book (2017)
- Wonder Woman: I Am an Amazon Warrior (2017)
- Wonder Woman: Meet the Heroes (2017)
- Justice League: Sticker Album
- Justice League: Mega Sticker (2017)
- Justice League: The Official Collector's Edition (2017)
- Justice League: The Official Guide (2018)
- Aquaman: Arthur's Guide to Atlantis (2018)
- Shazam!: A Shazam Showdown (2019)
- Shazam!: Becoming Shazam (2019)
- Shazam!: Freddy's Guide to Super Hero-ing (2019)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Destined for Greatness (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Meet Wonder Woman (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Truth, Love & Wonder (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Colouring Adventures (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Ultimate Colouring Book (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984: Super Sticker Book (2020)
Art Books
- Man of Steel: Inside the Legendary World of Superman (2013)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film (2016)
- Suicide Squad: Behind the Scenes with the Worst Heroes Ever (2016)
- Wonder Woman: The Art and Making of the Film (2017)
- Justice League: The Art of the Film (2017)
- The Art and Making of Aquaman (2018)
- The Flash: The Official Visual Companion (2023)
Music
Scores
- Man of Steel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2013)
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2016)
- Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Score) (2016)
- Wonder Woman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2017)
- Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2017)
- Aquaman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2018)
- Shazam! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2019)
- Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (Original Motion Picture Score) (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2020)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (Sketches from the Soundtrack) (2021)
- Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021)
- The Suicide Squad (Score From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021)
- Peacemaker (Soundtrack from the HBO Max Original Series) (2022)
- Black Adam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2022)
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023)
- The Flash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023)
- Blue Beetle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023)
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023)
Soundtracks
- Suicide Squad: The Album (2016)
- Birds of Prey: The Album (2020)
- The Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2021)
Other
Video Games
- Kellogg's Man of Steel (2013)
- Man of Steel (2013)
- Man of Steel: Hero's Flight (2013)
- Batman v Superman: Who Will Win (2016)
- Suicide Squad: Special Ops (2016)
- Wonder Woman: Rise of the Warrior (2017)
- Justice League VR: The Complete Experience (2017)
- Wonder Woman: The Themyscira Experience (2020)
- Black Adam Experience (2022)
Newspapers
- METROPOLIS UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK! (2013)
- BATMAN OR SUPERMAN? (2016)
- CORPORATE LOBBYING SCANDAL (2016)
Theme Park Attractions
- Suicide Squad: Six Flags Fright Fest Experience (2016, 2017)
Trivia
- While the DC Extended Universe films are not impacted by The CW's Arrowverse, Ezra Miller's version of Barry Allen did make a brief appearance during the fourth part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event.
- Originally, Green Lantern was to serve as the start of a shared DC film universe. However, due to the film's poor box office and its negative critical reception, these plans were scrapped.
References
