How to Watch the Entire DC Universe Easy Watch Order Guide

The DC universe is vast and perhaps more extensive than the Marvel universe. With titles spreading across both live-action and animated films and shows, the DC universe is pretty diverse.

The DC universe first began with a Superman film in 1951, and over the years, there have been over 50 films, shows, and animated titles in the complete universe. You can consume the entire universe as segments in their release and chronological watch order.

1. The New DCEU

i. Chronological Order

The most preferred watch order is the chronological watch order since the timeline of the events is pretty straightforward to understand.

• Man of Steel
• Wonder Woman
• Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
• Suicide Squad
• Wonder Woman 1984
• Justice League
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League
• Aquaman
• Shazam!
• Birds of Prey
• The Suicide Squad
• Peacemaker
• Black Adam
• Shazam: Fury of the Gods
• The Flash
• Blue Beetle
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

ii. Release Order

To begin with, I am listing down all the new DC movies that are in the DCEU. It started with Man of Steel in 2013 and today has about 12 titles that bring together various aspects of the universe.

Title	Release Date
Man of Steel	June 14, 2013
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice	March 25, 2016
Suicide Squad	August 5, 2016
Wonder Woman	June 2, 2017
Justice League	November 17, 2017
Aquaman	December 21, 2018
Shazam!	April 5, 2019
Birds of Prey	February 7, 2020
Wonder Woman 1984	December 25, 2020
Zack Snyder’s Justice League	March 18, 2021
The Suicide Squad	August 6, 2021
Peacemaker	January 13, 2022
Black Adam	October 22, 2022
Shazam: Fury of the Gods	March 17, 2023
The Flash	June 15, 2023
Blue Beetle	August 18, 2023
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom	December 21, 2023

While the timeline of the events is pretty straightforward and easy to understand, the only confusion you might face is between Justice League and Snyder’s version of the same film. This is because Warner Bros studios haven’t made Snyder’s Cut canon. As of now, it is a standalone film that will only be part of the extended universe.

2. The Arrowverse

The Arrowverse is CW Network’s rendition of numerous popular characters such as the Arrow, Flash, Batwoman, Supergirl, Black Lightning, and more.

While some shows have built an ardent fan following, a few haven’t. However, when you look at this universe holistically, it is pretty successful and perhaps has gained more appreciation from fans and critics alike than the DCEU.

i. Release Order

Title	Release Date
Arrow	10 October 2012 – 28 January 2020
Flash	7 October 2014 – Present
Constantine	24 October 2014 – 13 February 2015
Supergirl	26 October 2015 – 9 November 2021
Vixen Animated Web Series	25 August 2015 – 19 October 2016
Legends of Tomorrow	21 January 2016 – Present
Freedom Fighters: The Ray	9 December 2017 – 19 July 2018
Black Lightning	16 January 2018 – 24 May 2021
Batwoman	6 October 2019 – Present
Superman & Lois	23 February 2021 – Present

ii. Chronological Watch Order

The Arrowverse’s timeline is relatively easy to follow, and most shows can and should be watched in parallel. The shows that have been mentioned together can be watched in parallel so that you can enjoy the crossover episodes with complete context.

• Arrow (Seasons 1 and 2)
• The Flash (Season 1)
• Arrow (Season 3)
• Constantine
• The Flash (Season 2 (A))
• Arrow (Season 4 (A))
• Vixen: The Movie
• Arrow (Season 4 (B): Post-Legends of Yesterday)
• The Flash (Season 2 (B): Post-Legends of Today)
• Supergirl (Season 1)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 1)
• Supergirl (Season 2 (A))
• The Flash (Season 3 (A))
• Arrow (Season 5 (A))
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2 (A))
• Supergirl (Season 2 (B): Post-Invasion)
• The Flash (Season 3 (B): Post-Invasion)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2 (B): Post-Invasion)
• Arrow (Season 5 (B): Post-Invasion)
• Supergirl (Season 3 (A))
• Arrow (Season 6 (A))
• The Flash (Season 4 (A))
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 3 (A))
• Supergirl Season 3 (B): Post-Crisis on Earth-X)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (season 3 (B): Post-COE-X)
• Arrow (Season 6 (B): Post-COE-X)
• The Flash (Season 4 (B): Post-COE-X)
• The Flash (Season 6 (A))
• Arrow (Season 7 (A))
• Supergirl (Season 4 (A))
• Arrow (Season 7 (B): Post-Else Worlds)
• The Flash (Season 5 (B): Post-Else Worlds)
• Supergirl (Season 4 (B)): Post-Else Worlds)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 4)
• Supergirl (Season 5 (A): Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths)
• Batwoman (Season 1 (A): Pre-Crisis)
• The Flash (Season 6 (A): Pre-Crisis)
• Arrow (Season 8 (A): Pre-Crisis)
• Crisis on Infinite Earths (CW Arrowverse crossover event)
• Arrow (Season 8; Episodes 9 and 10 are the final two episodes of the series)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 5)
• The Flash (Season 6 (B): Post-Crisis)
• Supergirl (Season 5 (B): Post-Crisis)
• Batwoman (Season 1 (B): Post-Crisis)
• Black Lightning (Seasons 1-4)
• Supergirl (Season 6)
• Batwoman (Seasons 2 and 3)
• The Flash (Season 7)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 6)
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 7)
• The Flash (Season 8)
• The Flash (Season 9)

Note:

• Vixen Season 1 takes place around Arrow 3×15 and Flash 1×15
• Vixen Season 2 takes place around Arrow 4×18 and after Flash 2×04
• An alternate way of watching Constantine is before Arrow 4×05

iii. Crossover Episodes

• Flash 1×08 | Arrow 3×08
• The Flash 2×08 | Arrow 4×08
• Supergirl 1×18 (The Flash Appearance)
• Supergirl 2×08 | Flash 3×08 | Arrow 5×08 | Legends of Tomorrow 2×07
• Supergirl 2×16 | The Flash 3×17
• Supergirl 3×08 | Arrow 6×08 | Flash 4×08 | Legends of Tomorrow 3×08
• Flash 5×09 | Arrow 7×09 | Supergirl 4×09
• Supergirl 5×09 | Batwoman 1×09 | Flash 6×09 | Arrow 8×08 | Legends of Tomorrow 5×0(1)
• Batwoman 2×16 | Flash 7×16 | Superman & Lois 1×12 | Supergirl 6×12
• Flast 8×01 | 8×02 | 8×03 | 8×04 | 8×05

This is the complete list of crossover episodes. In the 8th crossover episode list, the Legends of Tomorrow episode can be considered episode 0 or episode 1 of the show.

3. The Nolan Batman Trilogy Release and Chronological Watch Order

The Nolan Trilogy is one of the few DC works that has profoundly impacted pop culture in ways very few superhero films or series ever have. The way it dives into the human mind and dissects our society is beyond genius.

The release order and chronological watch order for Nolan’s Batman/Dark Knight Trilogy are the same, and you can watch the films in their order of release.

Title	Release Date
Batman Begins	June 15, 2005
The Dark Knight	July 18, 2008
The Dark Knight Rises	July 20, 2012

4. Other DC Shows Release Order and Chronological Watch Order

These shows are a few more adaptations of DC characters that are mostly not popular on mainstream TV. You can watch most of them as standalone shows in any order you choose.

1. Smallville |  2001 – 2011
2. Birds of Prey | 2002 – 2003
3. Gotham |  2014 – 2019
4. Powerless | 2017
5. Titan | 2018 – Present
6. Krypton | 2018 – 2019
7. Doom Patrol | 2019 – Present
8. Watchmen | 2019
9. Swamp Thing | 2019
10. Pennyworth | 2019 – Present

5. Other DC Movies Release Order and Chronological Watch Order

Just like the series, numerous films after the year 2000 have been released, which can be watched as standalone movies.

However, most of these films are pretty underwhelming, and some might not even be worth your time. So, start with Watchmen and Joker, which have great plots, performances, and characters.

1. Catwoman – 2004
2. Constantine – 2005
3. Superman Returns – 2006
4. Watchmen – 2009
5. Green Lantern – 2011
6. Joker – 2019
7. The Batman – 2022

6. DC Old Movies (Before the 2000s) Release and Chronological Order

Some are standalone films in this list, and some have multiple sequels. I’ve mentioned which ones are standalone and which ones have a sequel along with the film titles. You can follow the release order of films since the timeline is pretty straightforward

1. Superman and the Mole Man – 1951 (Standalone)
2. Batman: The Movie – 1966 (Standalone)
3. Superman – 1978 (Part 1)
4. Superman II – 1980 (Part 2)
5. Swamp Thing – 1982 (Part 1)
6. Superman III – 1983 (Part 3)
7. Supergirl – 1984 (Standalone)
8. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace – 1987 (Part 4)
9. The Return of the Swamp Thing – 1989 (Part 2)
10. Batman – 1989 (Part 1)
11. Batman Returns – 1992 (Part 2)
12. Batman Forever – 1995 (Standalone)
13. Batman and Robin – 1997 (Standalone)
14. Steel – 1997 (Standalone)

7. DC Old Series (Before the 2000s) Release and Chronological Order

1. Adventures of Superman (1952 to 1958)
2. Batman (1966 to 1968)
3. Shazam (1974 to 1976)
4. Wonder Woman (1975 to 1979)
5. Superboy (1988 to 1992)
6. Swamp Thing (1990 to 1993)
7. The Flash (1990 to 1991)
8. Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 to 1997)

8. About DC Movies

DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book publishers. It produces material featuring numerous well-known superhero characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. Most of this material takes place in a shared fictional universe, which also features teams such as the Justice League, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans. The company has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including V for Vendetta, and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo Comics.

Film adaptations based on DC Comics properties have included serials, live action and animated films, direct-to-video releases, television films and documentary films.