The Big Picture
- The DC Extended Universe movies can be watched in chronological order, with Wonder Woman being the first in the timeline set in 1918 and The Flash set in multple timelines with the multiverse.
- Some movies, like Black Adam, have portions that take place thousands of years in the past, while others, like Wonder Woman 1984, are largely standalone.
- Matt Reeves' The Batman is set in another universe from the main fanon of the DCEU.
The DC Extended Universe of movies got off to a bit of a rougher start than the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the fact remains there is a timeline of events that occur throughout a series of DC Comics movies released over the past seven years. The first to hit theaters, of course, was Man of Steel – the Christopher Nolan-produced, Zack Snyder-directed gritty reboot of Superman that was intended to kick off an interconnected series of films. The idea was to build towards a two-part Justice League event, all spearheaded by Snyder, but due to a variety of factors this exact vision didn’t come to fruition. Still, especially for a stretch of five movies or so, there is a chronological order to the DC movies. Events from one movie are referenced and built upon in others, creating some exciting crossovers and cameos.
So if you’re wondering how to watch the DC movies in order, we have you covered. Below we’ve put together a list of how to watch all the DC movies in chronological order, followed by how to watch them in order of release. For the purposes of this list, we’re only including movies that are part of the “DC Extended Universe” – meaning only films that were made to be expressly connected by events and characters. So that means Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and the Ryan ReynoldsGreen Lantern are not on this list, because the universe of those movies doesn't cross over with the universe of these Snyder-led movies.
So with that out of the way, let’s get to it. Here are the DC movies in order.
DC Movies in Chronological Order of Events
Wonder Woman
The events of Wonder Woman pre-date the events of all the other DC movies by a wide margin. The film flashes way back to show the creation of the Amazon women warriors by Zeus, who all live on the secret island of Themyscira. The bulk of the story takes place in 1918, when US pilot Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) accidentally stumbles upon Themyscira while fighting in World War I. Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) follows Steve to London, where she makes her mark on history by fighting alongside the Allied forces in World War I. The movie is bookended by “present day” scenes that take place sometime after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Black Adam
While most of Black Adam takes place chronologically after the events of The Suicide Squad, the film opens 5,000 years in the past in the city of Kahndaq, where King Ahn-Kot is attempting to create the demonic Crown of Sabbac. In this sequence, we see the revolt of a young slave boy, and the beginnings of the legend that will become known as Teth-Adam. Even though the rest of the film is set in the present day of 2022, the origins of the antihero that becomes known as Black Adam start thousands of years before most of the events in the DCEU.
Wonder Woman 1984
Aside from a prologue set during Diana Prince's childhood, the sequel Wonder Woman 1984 takes place largely in the year 1984. Don't hold your breath for many DCEU tie-ins, however, as the Patty Jenkins-directed sequel mostly stands on its own.
Man of Steel
Man of Steel Director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is the film that started it all, and largely takes place in present-day (circa 2013) – although the film opens with a prologue that shows the destruction of Kal-El’s home planet Krypton, and we subsequently see scenes of Clark Kent as a child and teenager growing up in Kansas before we get to “present day” where he’s somewhere in his twenties – so about 20 years after the destruction of Krypton.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Timeline-wise, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice kind of runs the gamut. There are flashbacks to Bruce Wayne’s childhood in 1981 when his parents were killed, flashbacks to show the ending of Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne’s perspective, and there are flashforwards to a desolated Earth that’s been overrun by villain Darkseid (those “Knightmare” scenes). But the bulk of the film’s story takes place about 18 months after the events of Man of Steel, with Ben Affleck’s Batman now extremely hardened and harboring a grudge against Superman.
Suicide Squad
The events of Suicide Squad take place about a year after the events of Batman v Superman, as the death of Superman is referenced in the film, and we even get a cameo of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne meeting with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) having now taken on a more leadership role among the superheroes. But there are also flashbacks to Batman tracking down Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) that take place before Man of Steel.
-3.jpg "DC Movies in Order: How to Watch Chronologically or by Release Date (7)")
Justice League
The bulk of Justice League takes place about two years after the events of Batman v Superman and one year after Suicide Squad, but we also get a big flashback sequence to thousands of years ago when the villainous Steppenwolf attempted to take over Earth and was foiled by an alliance between Amazons, Atlanteans, humans, and Olympian Gods.
Zack Snyder's Justice League
Zack Snyder's Justice League Although non-canon, the four-hour epic Zack Snyder's Justice League is a more complete, more compelling version of the theatrical cut of Justice League. It also fits into the timeline exactly the same.
Aquaman
Aquaman The standalone Aquaman movie takes place primarily several months after the events of Justice League, as we watch Jason Momoa’s titular hero protect his own kingdom. But there are flashbacks that show Aquaman’s origin story back in 1985.
Shazam!
Most of the standalone film Shazam! takes place over Christmas in 2018, but the film opens with a flashback to 1974 to reveal the origin story of its villain Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).
Birds of Prey
This standalone Harley Quinn movie takes place about four years after the events of Suicide Squad. In the wake of Batman v Superman and Justice League, the DCEU continued to get more disconnected, to the point that Birds of Prey has only very few references to Harley Quinn’s actions in Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad The James Gunn DC movie The Suicide Squad takes place an indeterminate amount of time after the events of the first Suicide Squad movie, and presumably after the events of Birds of Prey, but in truth the film is wholly unconcerned with DC interconnectivity. What we do know is Harley Quinn has landed herself back in jail (hence her involvement in Task Force X's latest assignment), and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is an old hat at enacting these "Suicide Squad" missions.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Though never directly stated in the film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods takes places a few years after the events of the first film based on how much the kids have aged. The sequel sees the Shazamily attempt to stop the Daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) as they seek to plant an apple from the Tree of Life which will destroy the world with a horde of monsters.
The Flash
Set after the events of Justice League, it's assumed The Flash takes place after all the previously mentioned movies, due to its multiversal shenanigans. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) attempts to go back in time to exonerate his father from his mother's murder, for which he now serves in jail. In doing so, Barry actually goes to another timeline where the Justice League does not exist, where he meets up with another version of himself and Batman (Michael Keaton). The movie ends insinuating that Barry is in another universe with another version of Batman (George Clooney), signaling the close of the DCEU.
The Batman
Matt Reeves' Batman takes place separate from the main DCEU films, focusing on a younger Batman in the second year of his vigilante career. Robert Pattinson steps into the titular role and Reeves creates a darker Gotham for The Batman that is more atmospheric, including classic Batman rogues' gallery figures like Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman in the film alongside his allies like Alfred and Jim Gordon.
DC Movies in Order of Release
And here are all the DC Extended Universe movies in order of when they were released.
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
The Batman — March 4, 2022
Black Adam — October 21, 2022
Shazam! Fury of the Gods — March 17, 2023
The Flash — June 16, 2023
The DCEU movies are available to stream on Max in the U.S.
