Beginner’s Guide to Watching the DC Animated Universe

Although DC doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to their live-action movies, they sure have been at the top of their game in the animated universe.

The DC Animated Universe dates back to the early 1990s and it has released several television series, feature films, short films and comic books since then. This 30-year-long universe may seem daunting at first but once we break it down for you, it’ll be much easier to understand.

The DCAU was responsible for introducing a whole generation to superheroes and comic books but it’s never too late if you’re one of those who are starting now. I promise you, it will be worth the commitment.

Also note that the DCAU is not to be confused with the DCAMU (DC Animated Movie Universe), a fictional universe that ran from 2013 to 2020 on video.

1. DCAU TV Series (Release Order)

• Batman: The Animated Series (Season 1) (1992)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Season 2) (1994)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 1) (1996)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 2) (1997)
• The New Batman Adventures (Season 1) (1997)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 3) (1998)
• Batman Beyond (Season 1) (1999)
• Batman Beyond (Season 2) (1999)
• Lobo (Season 1) (2000)
• Gotham Girls (Season 1) (2000)
• Batman Beyond (Season 3) (2000)
• Static Shock (Season 1) (2000)
• The Zeta Project (Season 1) (2001)
• Gotham Girls (Season 2) (2001)
• Justice League (Season 1) (2001)
• Static Shock (Season 2) (2002)
• The Zeta Project (Season 2) (2002)
• Gotham Girls (Season 3) (2002)
• Static Shock (Season 3) (2003)
• Justice League (Season 2) (2003)
• Static Shock (Season 4) (2004)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 1) (2004)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 2) (2005)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 3) (2006)

2. DCAU Movies (Release Order)

(f.f.= feature film; s.f.= short film)

• The Dark Knight’s First Night (s.f.) (1991)
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (f.f.) (1993)
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (f.f.) (1998)
• Justice League: The First Mission (s.f.) (2000)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (f.f.) (2000)
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (f.f.) (2003)
• Chase Me (s.f.) (2003)
• Batman Beyond: 75^th Anniversary Tribute to Batman (s.f.) (2014)
• Batman & Harley Quinn (f.f.) (2017)
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (f.f.) (2019) 

3. DC Animated Universe Timeline in Release Order

(f.f.= feature film; s.f.= short film)

• The Dark Knight’s First Night (s.f.) (1991)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Season 1) (1992)
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (f.f.) (1993)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Season 2) (1994)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 1) (1996)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 2) (1997)
• The New Batman Adventures (Season 1) (1997)
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (f.f.) (1998)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 3) (1998)
• Batman Beyond (Season 1) (1999)
• Batman Beyond (Season 2) (1999)
• Lobo (Season 1) (2000)
• Gotham Girls (Season 1) (2000)
• Batman Beyond (Season 3) (2000)
• Static Shock (Season 1) (2000)
• Justice League: The First Mission (s.f.) (2000)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (f.f.) (2000)
• The Zeta Project (Season 1) (2001)
• Gotham Girls (Season 2) (2001)
• Justice League (Season 1) (2001)
• Static Shock (Season 2) (2002)
• The Zeta Project (Season 2) (2002)
• Gotham Girls (Season 3) (2002)
• Static Shock (Season 3) (2003)
• Justice League (Season 2) (2003)
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (f.f.) (2003)
• Chase Me (s.f.) (2003)
• Static Shock (Season 4) (2004)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 1) (2004)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 2) (2005)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 3) (2006)
• Batman Beyond: 75^th Anniversary Tribute to Batman (s.f.) (2014)
• Batman & Harley Quinn (f.f.) (2017)
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (f.f.) (2019) 

4. DC Animated Universe Timeline in Chronological Order

Although the DCAU series and movies were released in the above order, their timelines don’t exactly match and the sequential order of events is a different one. Here is the order that fixes this problem:

(f.f.= feature film; s.f.= short film)

• The Dark Knight’s First Night (s.f.) (1991)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Episodes 1 to 31) (1992)
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (f.f.) (1993)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Episodes 32 to 85) (1994)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 1) (1996)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 2) (1997)
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (f.f.) (1998)
• The New Batman Adventures (Season 1) (1997)
• Chase Me (s.f.) (2003)
• Gotham Girls (Season 1) (2000)
• Lobo (Season 1) (2000)
• Gotham Girls (Season 2) (2001)
• Gotham Girls (Season 3) (2002)
• Superman: The Animated Series (Season 3) (1998)
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (f.f.) (2003)
• Static Shock (Season 1) (2000)
• Static Shock (Season 2) (2002)
• Static Shock (Season 3) (2003)
• Static Shock (Season 4) (2004)
• Justice League: The First Mission (s.f.) (2000)
• Justice League (Season 1) (2001)
• Justice League (Season 2) (2003)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 1) (2004)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 2- till episode 25) (2005)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 3) (2006)
• Batman & Harley Quinn (f.f.) (2017)
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (f.f.) (2019)
• Batman Beyond (Episodes 1 to 33) (2000)
• The Zeta Project (Season 1) (2001)
• The Zeta Project (Season 2) (2002)
• Batman Beyond (Episodes 34 to 52) (2001)
• Batman Beyond: 75^th Anniversary Tribute to Batman (s.f.) (2014)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (f.f.) (2000)
• Justice League Unlimited (Season 2, Episode 26- “Epilogue”) (2005)

5. How long would it take to watch all DCAU movies & TV series?

5.1. Television Series

All series put together have 429 episodes.

• Batman: The Animated Series (85 episodes)
• Superman: The Animated Series (54 episodes)
• The New Batman Adventures (24 episodes)
• Batman Beyond (52 episodes)
• Static Shock (52 episodes)
• The Zeta Project (26 episodes)
• Justice League (52 episodes)
• Justice League Unlimited (39 episodes)
• Lobo (14 episodes)
• Gotham Girls (31 episodes)

5.2. Feature Films

All feature films put together last 442 minutes or 7 hours and 22 minutes.

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (78 minutes)
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (66 minutes)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (73 minutes)
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (74 minutes)
• Batman & Harley Quinn (74 minutes)
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (77 minutes)

5.3. Short Films

All short films put together last 15 minutes.

• The Dark Knight’s First Night (2 minutes)
• Justice League: The First Mission (6 minutes)
• Chase Me (6 minutes)
• Batman Beyond: 75^th Anniversary Tribute to Batman (1 minute)

If we were to calculate how long the 10 television series, 6 feature films and 4 short films would take to complete, the total time would come up to be 165 hours or 7 days (approximately).

6. Conclusion

My personal preference would be the chronological order. It’s easier to follow and you don’t have to keep going back and forth between storylines.

That being said, the choice is entirely yours. Considering that the people who watched these shows and movies as they premiered had to follow the release order, it wouldn’t be too difficult to follow that order either.

Whatever you choose, just make sure you don’t forget anything on the list!

7. About DCAU

The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans) is a shared universe of superhero-based animated television series, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The shared universe, much like the original DC Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.

The first TV series set in the DCAU was Batman: The Animated Series, which premiered in 1992; the last TV series was Justice League Unlimited, which ended its run in 2006. The associated media franchise also includes direct-to-video feature films and shorts, comic books, video games and other multimedia adaptations set in the same continuity.