DC Animated Universe
The DC Animated Universe 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 DCU entry was the TV series , which started airing in 1992 and the last entry was the TV series Justice League Unlimited which aired in 2006. A short film titled Batman Beyond, was released in 2014 for Batman's 75th anniversary and is set in the DCAU. Some parts of the associated media franchise including direct-to-video feature films and shorts, comic books, video games and other multimedia adaptations are also included in the continuity.
List of DC Animated Universe media
While there have been several animated projects based upon DC Comics characters over the decades, what is commonly accepted as the DC Animated Universe consists of the stable of TV series and films that spin off from Batman: The Animated Series, the first TV series in this continuity. Two characters outside of the normal Batman canon, Zatanna and Jonah Hex, appeared on the series, but the first series to indicate a shared continuity with other well-known characters was the subsequent series, ', in which the title character has encounters with heroes such as the Wally West Flash and Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.Older TV series such as Super Friends and newer ones such as The Batman, Legion of Super Heroes, ', Young Justice and Justice League Action are not part of this continuity. The direct-to-video DC Universe Animated Original Movies, such as ', ', and are also not considered part of the DCAU, despite utilizing similar character designs and several of them featuring much of the same voice cast as previous DCAU series.
Television series
The DC Animated Universe consists of these animated television series:Feature films
The following animated feature films also are part of the DCAU continuity:| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriters | Release | Notes | RT |
| ' | Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm | Story by: Alan Burnett Screenplay by: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves | Theatrical | Continuation of '. | 83% | |
| ' | Boyd Kirkland | Boyd Kirkland and Randy Rogel | Direct-to-DVD | Continuation of Batman: The Animated Series. | 92% | |
| ' | Curt Geda | Story by: Paul Dini, Glen Murakami and Bruce Timm Screenplay by: Paul Dini | Direct-to-DVD | Continuation of Batman Beyond, Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. | 90% | |
| ' | Curt Geda | Story by: Alan Burnett Screenplay by: Michael Reaves | Direct-to-DVD | Continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. | ||
| Batman and Harley Quinn | July 21, 2017 | Sam Liu | Story by: Bruce Timm Screenplay by: Bruce Timm and Jim Krieg | Direct-to-DVD | Continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. | 45% |
| Justice League vs. the Fatal Five | April 16, 2019 | Sam Liu | Story by: Eric Carrasco Screenplay by:''' Eric Carrasco,Jim Krieg andAlan Burnett | Direct-to-DVD | Continuation of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited | 100% |
Short films
Digital series
Cancelled projects
An animated series based on the Teen Titans comic books was planned for the DC Animated Universe during the mid-1990s, but was finally scrapped. Instead a Teen Titans series not related to the DC animated universe was released. Also, after the success of Batman: The Animated Series in the early 1990s, Fox approached producer Bruce Timm to create a spin-off series focusing on Catwoman, but the project never materialized.In 1998, writer John P. McCann had been tasked with coming up with a Lobo animated series in the DC Animated Universe, with Brad Garret set to reprise his role as the character, but the show had been cancelled right before production. A few elements of the show would find its way in the 2000 Lobo Webseries, an online Flash animated series starring Lobo, the galactic bounty hunter, however whether the webseries is part of the official DCAU is unclear. A wax statue with the same character design as Lobo in this series appeared in an episode of Gotham Girls which somewhat support that the webseries is part of the official DCAU, although this is still disputed. Unlike the other shows set in the DCAU, it has graphic violence, sexual content, strong profanity, and a lack of tie-ins with the greater DCAU.
Before the release of ', a third animated feature based on ' was planned, entitled Batman: Arkham. The film was supposed to be a follow-up for ', and Boyd Kirkland was attached to write and direct; but the project was soon scrapped. A second Batman Beyond movie was planned for release but was finally scrapped due to the dark tones and controversies of ' in 2001. Around 2003, during the production of ', Warner Bros. approached Kirkland to write a Catwoman direct-to-video feature film as a tie-in with the 2004 live-action film. Although the script was written, the project was soon scrapped after the poor reception of the live-action film.
Also, a direct-to-video feature-length animated film entitled Justice League: Worlds Collide was planned to connect Justice League with its follow-up Justice League Unlimited, but the production was finally cancelled in 2004, and the script was later rewritten for the animated film ', that was not part of the DC Animated Universe.
Comic books
Many of the DCAU productions have also had comic books created based on the characters of the various series, though their canonicity is disputable. The comics are:| Year | Title | Issues |
| 1992 | The Batman Adventures | #1–36 Mad Love Holiday Special Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Annuals |
| 1993 | Superman & Batman Magazine | #1–8 |
| 1995 | Batman and Robin Adventures | #1–25 Annuals Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero Dark Claw Adventures |
| 1996 | Superman Adventures | #1–66 Annual World's Finest Superman vs. Lobo Exclusive Edition |
| 1996 | Two-Face: Two of a Kind | #0 |
| 1997 | Adventures in the DC Universe | #1–19 Annual |
| 1998 | ' | #1–5 |
| 1998 | Batman: Gotham Adventures | #1–60 |
| 1998 | Batgirl Adventures | One-Shot |
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | #1–6 |
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | #1–24 Return of the Joker |
| 1999 | Claritin Syrup Presents Batman | One-Shot |
| 2001 | Gotham Knights | #14 |
| 2002 | Gotham Girls | #1–5 |
| 2002 | Justice League Adventures | #1–34
|
| 2003 | Batman Adventures | #1–17 |
| 2003 | Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu | #1–22 |
| 2004 | Batman: Harley and Ivy | #1–3 |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | #1–46 |
| 2010 | Batman Beyond | #1–6 |
| 2010 | Superman/Batman Annual | #4 |
| 2011 | Batman Beyond | #1–8 |
| 2011 | Superman Beyond | #0–20 |
| 2012 | Justice League Beyond | #1–25 |
| 2012 | Batman Beyond | #1–29 |
| 2013 | Batman Beyond 2.0 | #1–40 |
| 2013 | Justice League Beyond 2.0 | #1–24 |
| 2015 | Scooby Doo Team Up | #12, #17, #21 |
| 2016 | Batman/TMNT Adventures | #1-6 |
| 2016 | Love is Love | Harley and Ivy story by Paul Dini |
| 2016 | Harley Quinn | #17-26 |
| 2018 | Harley loves Joker | #1-2 |
| 2020 | ' | #1-5 |
Recurring cast and characters
The future of the DCAU
With the conclusion of the Justice League Unlimited animated series, Warner Bros has moved on to adapting new versions of the various DC comics properties rather than reviving the DCAU counterparts.The last script written for DCAU continuity was titled Justice League: Worlds Collide. This screenplay was created to bridge the several month gap between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. The draft was eventually adapted into the February 2010 film ', with the removal of any references specific to DCAU continuity, replacing Green Lantern John Stewart with Hal Jordan, and the casting of different voice actors than those of the DCAU.
In 2009, Bruce Timm was asked at a ToonZone forum if the DCAU will return in the future, and he stated this:
On June 8, 2015, during an interview with Nerdist about his new film ', Bruce Timm was asked if the DC Animated Universe will return someday. Although Timm stated that the DCAU continuity was unlikely to return, the possibility always exists.
In 2018, Kevin Conroy said work on the DCAU had stalled because the writers ran out of ideas for stories and believed stopping was best, as they did not want to "compromise on the quality of what they had and start creating kind of silly stories".
Comics
The Batman Beyond comic series is a loose adaptation of the Batman Beyond franchise, intended to fit the character and storylines from the series into the mainstream DC continuity. The miniseries began in June 2010, under the title Future Evil. In August 2010, the series was announced to continue following the completion of the first arc as an ongoing series. That series concluded alongside the entire line of ongoing monthly DC Comics superhero books during the 2011 revamp and relaunch, titled The New 52.Superman Beyond, a one-shot comic set in the same universe as Batman Beyond, was released in 2011.
Batman Beyond Unlimited, a title chronicling the adventures of the future Justice League introduced in the DCAU, was released in February 2012. This series published monthly triple-sized issues, containing three stories of Terry McGinnis, Clark "Cal" Kent, and the future Justice League Unlimited, respectively.
Batman Beyond Universe succeeded Unlimited in August 2013, condensing to double-monthly issues upon the elderly Superman's rejoining the future Justice League.
Terry McGinnis was the central figure in weekly series.
In 2015–2016, DC Comics and IDW Publishing released a jointly produced, six-issue miniseries comic titled Batman/TMNT, where the New 52 Batman encounters the IDW incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The success of this miniseries inspired a similar crossover story, with Batman's DCAU incarnation meeting the Amazing Adventures comic version of the 2012 CGI series' Turtles. The concept was first announced in late July 2016, and scheduled for a six-issue release starting November 9, 2016.
Outside media
Video games
There have also been a number of DCAU tie-in video games released to correspond with the various animated television series and films. Some of these games have original plots, while others follow previous stories; their status in DCAU canon is unknown. The games are:| Year | Title | Platforms |
| 1993 | ' | Game Boy |
| 1994 | The Adventures of Batman & Robin | Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega CD/Mega-CD, Game Gear |
| 1997 | Superman | Game Boy |
| 1999 | Superman | Nintendo 64 |
| 2000 | ' | Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 |
| 2001 | ' | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | ' | PlayStation |
| 2001 | ' | PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows |
| 2002 | ' | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Static Shock | Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | ' | PlayStation 2, GameCube |
| 2003 | ' | Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube |
| 2003 | ' | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | ' | Game Boy Advance |
| 2016 | View-Master Batman Animated VR | iOS, Android |
Six of these games feature voice acting from the casts of the original shows. These are: The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Superman, Batman Vengeance, Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, and View-Master Batman Animated VR. The SEGA CD/Mega CD game, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, also features animation from one of the studios that worked on Batman: The Animated Series.
''The Heart of Batman''
A 90-minute documentary film released on October 16, 2018, as part of the Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition and Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray/Digital box set and was later made available on the official Warner Bros. Entertainment YouTube channel.Cultural impact
TV series
Comics
Characters adapted from the DCAU
Though the DCAU is an offshoot of the mainstream DC comics universe, it has also affected the DC universe in return. The following characters were originally created for their respective series in the DCAU, but were eventually adapted via retroactive continuity into the mainstream DC comic continuity:- Nora Fries '
- Harley Quinn '
- Renee Montoya '
- Lock-Up '
- Sewer King '
- The Condiment King
- Mercy Graves '
- Livewire '
- Roxy Rocket '
- Terry McGinnis/Batman '
- Gray Ghost '