DC Extended Universe

"*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]
 File:DC Comics 2016 logo.png
 File:The League stands victorious - ZSJL.jpg
The **DC Films shared universe franchise**, popularly referred to as the **DC Extended Universe** (**DCEU**) or the **Snyderverse** and designated as the reality **Earth-1** within the multiverse system, is 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.

The DCEU was launched with Zack Snyder's *Man of Steel* in 2013, which was followed by *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016), *Suicide Squad* (2016), *Wonder Woman* (2017), *Justice League* (2017), *Aquaman* (2018), *Shazam!* (2019), *Birds of Prey* (2020), *Wonder Woman 1984* (2020), *The Suicide Squad* (2021), *Black Adam* (2022), and *Shazam! Fury of the Gods* (2023). The main film franchise will continue with *The Flash*, *Blue Beetle* and *Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom* in 2023. The DCEU expanded outside of major theatrical releases in 2021 with the release of *Zack Snyder's Justice League* on HBO Max, and the television series *Peacemaker*, a spin-off of *The Suicide Squad*, premiered on the streaming service in January 2022.

The DC Extended Universe will be largely rebooted and transition into the DC Universe with the release of *The Flash*, ushering in a new era for the main continuity of DC films. The new universe will officially launch with the release of *Creature Commandos*, with the first live-action film, *Superman: Legacy*, arriving in 2025.

## Etymology

The name "DC Extended Universe," while widely accepted as the name of the film franchise that started with *Man of Steel* in 2013, 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*. 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. 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. 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 HBO Max. However, HBO Max has since pulled the name from their platform for unknown reasons.

Around the release of *Zack Snyder's Justice League*, fans and cast and crew widely began referring to Zack Snyder's main Justice League story within the DC Extended Universe as the "**Snyderverse**" (alternatively spelled **SnyderVerse**) and demanded for more stories in this anthology with the hashtag #RestoreTheSnyderVerse on social media.

In 2021, James Gunn confirmed that the 'DCEU' label was still being used internally. Various official articles for DC Comics have since continued to use the label to refer to the interconnected film universe.

## Films

### Other

Main article: Unrealized and other DCEU projects

## TV series

 *Peacemaker* | 1 | 8
 2 | TBA
 Untitled John Constantine Series
 Untitled Val-Zod Series

## Short films

### Tie-in

* *Etta's Mission* (2017)
* *Black Adam* precursor (2020)

### Promotional

* Superman 75th Anniversary Animated Short (2013)
* The Mother Box Origins (2021)

## Comics

* *Man of Steel Prequel* (2013)
* *Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016)
	+ *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Batman*
	+ *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Lois Lane*
	+ *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Senator Finch*
	+ *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Superman*
	+ *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Lex Luthor*
* *General Mills Presents Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2016)
	+ "Playground Heroes"
	+ "Field Trip"
	+ "Picture Proof"
	+ "Lights Out"
* *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)
	+ *Joyride*
	+ *Guiding Lights*
	+ *Fast Food*
	+ *Shifting Gears*
	+ *Pit Stop*
	+ *Winner Drives*
* *Superhero Hooky* (2019)
* *Wonder Woman 1984* #1 (2020)
* *Serving Up Justice* (2021)
	+ *Serving Up Justice* #1
	+ *Serving Up Justice* #2
	+ *Serving Up Justice* #3
	+ *Serving Up Justice* #4
* *Black Adam - The Justice Society Files* (2022)
	+ *Black Adam - The Justice Society Files: Hawkman*
	+ *Black Adam - The Justice Society Files: Cyclone*
	+ *Black Adam - The Justice Society Files: Atom Smasher*
	+ *Black Adam - The Justice Society Files: Doctor Fate*
* *The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive* (2022)
	+ *The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive* #1
	+ *The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive* #2
	+ *The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive* #3
* *Shazam! Thundercrack* (2023)
* *Shazam! Fury of the Gods Special: Shazamily Matters* (2023)

## 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)

### Soundtracks

* *Suicide Squad: The Album* (2016)
* *Birds of Prey: The Album* (2020)
* *The Suicide Squad (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)* (2021)

### Other

* *SuperVillain (Music Inspired by The Suicide Squad)* (2021)

## 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.

## External links

* Template:DC
* Template:WP

de:DC Extended Universe
es:Universo Extendido de DC
fr:Univers étendu de DC Comics
pt-br:Universo Estendido DC

1. ↑ "This Week's Cover: First look at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's ultimate superhero showdown" - Entertainment Weekly
2. ↑ "Warner Bros: “DC Extended Universe” isn’t official; term was made up by Entertainment Weekly" - Batman-News
3. ↑ Template:Comic ref
4. ↑ First look at 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' on EW's cover - Entertainment Weekly
5. ↑ 'Batman V Superman' Empire Cover Revealed; Zack Snyder on the DCEU - Screen Rant
6. ↑ DC Extended Universe Isn't the Official Name of DC's Movie Universe - Screen Rant
7. ↑ https://www.insider.com/what-is-restorethesnyderverse-zack-snyder-justice-league-2021-4
8. ↑ James Gunn Talking about the DCEU
9. ↑ A Live-Action Wonder Twins Movie is Coming to HBO Max
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 ‘Aquaman 2’ Heads To Christmas 2023, ‘Shazam: Fury Of The Gods’ Goes To March, HBO Max Pics ‘House Party’ & ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Going Theatrical – Warner Bros. Release Date Changes
11. ↑ Rachel Zegler, 'West Side Story' Star, Nabs Key Role in 'Shazam: Fury of the Gods'
12. ↑ Borys Kit on Twitter - December 5, 2022
13. ↑ #BlueBeetle is no longer an HBO Max film — it is getting a THEATRICAL release on 08/18/23
14. ↑ - Angel Manuel Soto's Announcement
15. ↑ "Jaime Reyes 'Blue Beetle' Latino Superhero Movie in Development at DC and Warner Bros (Exclusive) - The Wrap
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 ‘Aquaman 2’ Gets December 2022 Release Date" - Variety
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 'Black Canary' Movie in the Works at HBO Max From Misha Green; Jurnee Smollett to Reprise Role