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The DC Extended Universe (shortened as the DCEU) was an American media franchise and shared universe that was centered on a series of superhero movies and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, based on characters that appear in publications by DC Comics. It also included comic books, short movies, novels, and video games.
| DC Extended Universe | |
|---|---|
 DC Films logo | |
| Based on | Characters published by DC Comics |
| Starring | See below |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date | 2013–2023 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Total (12 movies): $2.189 billion |
| Box office | Total (12 movies): $6.368 billion |
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 movies have been in production since 2011 and in that time Warner Bros. has distributed four movies with more than ten in various stages of production. The series has grossed over $3 billion at the global box office, currently making it the seventeenth highest-grossing movie franchise.
The movies were written and directed by a variety of screenwriters and feature large, often ensemble, casts. Several actors, including Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, and Ray Fisher, had been set to appear in numerous movies.
In May 2016, DC's chief creative officer Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. executive vice president Jon Berg were appointed to co-run the DC Films division and oversee creative decisions, production and story-arcs in order to create a cohesive overarching plot within the movies. However, after the movie Justice League failed to make as much money as expected and was considered lackluster, less focus was placed on making a shared universe and new president Walter Hamada wanted to focus on making less-expensive movies.
After a continued failure to make consistently good movies in the DCEU and money issues throughout the entire Warner Bros. organization, James Gunn and Peter Safran were hired to replace Hamada at DC Studios, as Warner Bros. went through a company reorganization and combined with the Discovery Channel to form Warner Bros. Discovery. Gunn and Safran plan to start the movie series over as the DC Universe (DCU), getting rid of most actors including Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Ray Fisher, and starting over with a brand-new storyline.
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The first movie in the DCEU was Man of Steel (2013), which was followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) and The Flash (2023) with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) being the last movie of the franchise. The Tim Burton Batman movies Batman and Batman Returns became part of the DCEU in The Flash (2023) through time travel. The Flash is planned to "reboot" the DCEU into the DCU, with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom planned to wrap up the DCEU storyline before the first DCU movie Superman: Legacy comes out in 2025 with a brand-new Superman.
A movie about Batgirl titled Batgirl was going to be released in 2022 through HBO Max, but it was cancelled by Warner Bros. in August of that year.
Other projects were in many stages of development before James Gunn decided to reboot, including Justice League Dark, a third Wonder Woman movie, and untitled solo movies for Supergirl, and other characters.
Television shows for HBO Max include Peacemaker (2022). Shows being made is another Suicide Squad spin-off, and Green Lantern Corps.
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Box-office performance
| Film | U.S. release date | Box office gross | Budget | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. and Canada | Other territories | Worldwide | ||||
| Man of Steel | June 14, 2013 | $291,045,518 | $379,100,000 | $670,145,518 | $225 million | [2] |
| Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | March 25, 2016 | $330,360,194 | $544,002,609 | $874,362,803 | $250 million | [3] |
| Suicide Squad | August 5, 2016 | $325,100,054 | $424,100,000 | $749,200,054 | $175 million | [4] |
| Wonder Woman | June 2, 2017 | $412,845,172 | $411,125,510 | $823,970,682 | $149 million | [5] |
| Justice League | November 17, 2017 | $229,024,295 | $432,302,692 | $661,326,987 | $300 million | [6] |
| Aquaman | December 21, 2018 | $335,104,314 | $816,924,079 | $1,152,028,393 | $160 million | [7] |
| Shazam! | April 5, 2019 | $140,480,049 | $227,318,962 | $367,799,011 | $100 million | [8] |
| Birds of Prey | February 7, 2020 | $84,172,791 | $121,200,000 | $205,372,791 | $84.5 million | [9] |
| Wonder Woman 1984 | December 25, 2020 | $46,801,036 | $122,800,000 | $169,601,036 | $200 million | [10] |
| The Suicide Squad | August 5, 2021 | $55,817,425 | $112,900,000 | $168,717,425 | $185 million | [11] |
| Black Adam | October 21, 2022 | $168,152,111 | $225,300,000 | $393,452,111 | $195 million | [12] |
| Shazam! Fury of the Gods | March 17, 2023 | $57,638,006 | $76,400,000 | $134,038,006 | $125 million | [13] |
| The Flash | June 16, 2023 | $108,133,313 | $163,200,000 | $271,333,313 | $200 million | [14] |
| Blue Beetle | August 18, 2023 | $72,488,072 | $58,300,000 | $130,788,072 | $104 million | [15] |
| Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | December 22, 2023 | $124,209,572 | $309,900,000 | $434,109,572 | $205 million | [16] |
| Total | $2,781,371,922 | $4,424,873,852 | $7,206,245,774 | $2.657 billion | [17][18] | |
List indicators
This section shows characters who have appeared in three or more franchises.
- An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the movie.
- A indicates an appearance through archival footage.
- C indicates a cameo role.
- E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.
- G indicates a guest appearance in the season.
- P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
- S indicates an appearance through use of special effects.
- U indicates an uncredited appearance.
| Character | Movie | Television | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man of Steel | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | Suicide Squad movies | Wonder Woman movies | Justice League movies | Aquaman movies | Shazam movies | Birds of Prey | Black Adam | The Flash | Peacemaker | |
| Barry Allen The Flash | Ezra MillerC | Ezra Miller | Ezra Miller | Ezra MillerUG | |||||||
| Arthur Curry Aquaman | Jason MomoaC | Jason MomoaP | Jason Momoa | Jason MomoaUG | |||||||
| Thomas Curry | Temuera Morrison | Temuera MorrisonC | |||||||||
| John Economos | Steve Agee | Steve Agee | Steve Agee | ||||||||
| Rick Flag | Joel Kinnaman | Joel KinnamanA | |||||||||
| George "Digger" Harkness | Jai Courtney | Jai CourtneyP | Jai CourtneyS | ||||||||
| Kal-El / Clark Kent | Henry Cavill | Henry Cavill | Ryan HadleyC | Henry CavillC | Brad AbramenkoC | ||||||
| Emilia Harcourt | Jennifer Holland | Jennifer Holland | Jennifer Holland | ||||||||
| Hippolyta | Connie Nielsen | ||||||||||
| Joker | Jared Leto | Jared LetoE | John GothC | ||||||||
| Jared LetoA | |||||||||||
| J'onn J'onzz / Calvin Swanwick Martian Manhunter | Harry Lennix | Harry LennixE | |||||||||
| Jonathan Kent | Kevin Costner | Kevin CostnerC | Kevin Costner | ||||||||
| Martha Kent | Diane Lane | Diane Lane | |||||||||
| Lois Lane | Amy Adams | Amy Adams | |||||||||
| Mera | Amber HeardE | Amber Heard | |||||||||
| Alfred Pennyworth | Jeremy Irons | Jeremy Irons | Jeremy Irons | ||||||||
| Diana Prince Wonder Woman | Gal Gadot | Gal Gadot | Gal GadotU | Gal GadotC | Kimberley von IlbergC | ||||||
| Harleen Quinzel | Margot Robbie | Margot Robbie | Margot RobbieA | ||||||||
| Shazam | Djimon Hounsou | Djimon HounsouC | |||||||||
| Steve Trevor | Chris PineP | Chris Pine | |||||||||
| Amanda Waller | Viola Davis | Viola Davis | Viola Davis | ||||||||
| Bruce Wayne Batman | Ben Affleck | Ben AffleckU | Ben Affleck | Ben AffleckU | |||||||
| General Zod | Michael Shannon | Michael ShannonS | Michael Shannon | ||||||||
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