Picture: DC Entertainment / Warner Bros. Pictures
Who is up for a massive DC movie binge? If you’re in the United States and have a Netflix subscription, you can do that right now through to at least April next year with the majority of titles from the DCEU and other DC movies dropping between December and January 2024. Here’s your updated guide to watching the movies in order.
We will cover three ways to watch the DC movies that have landed on Netflix.
- Firstly, we’ll cover the simple release order. You’d have watched these movies in this order if you went to the theater each time a new DC movie dropped.
- Following that, we’ll look at the canon order of the DCEU, i.e., if you want to follow the timeline’s events closely. This will exclude any title that exists outside the DCEU.
- Finally, you’ll get the Kasey list. This list will be all the DCEU movies I deem worth watching – get your pitchforks at the ready.
A couple of additional quick disclaimers before we dive in. Firstly, this list only really covers Netflix US as they are the ones who got over a dozen DC movies added on December 1st. In case you missed it, Netflix US secured the licenses to over a dozen DC movies, with more on the way. Our intel indicates Netflix will hold onto these movies through April 2024.
Some other Netflix regions will be streaming some DC movies, but not the same number as the US. Secondly, not every DC movie landed on Netflix US, so if we mention one that’s not, we’ll note where you can stream it instead.
If you want an even bigger DC watch over the coming months, don’t forget you can watch most of the Arrowverse in order on Netflix, too. We’ve got a separate guide for that.
Watch DC Movies In Order Of Release Date
Picture: DC / Warner Bros. Pictures
This list will include the DCEU movies and any other DC movie that has arrived or is set to arrive on Netflix.
- Green Lantern (2011)
- Man of Steel (2013)
- Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Justice League (2017)
- Note: Added to Netflix on January 1st, 2024
- Aquaman (2018)
- Note: Added to Netflix on January 1st, 2024
- Shazam! (2019)
- Joker (2019)
- Note: Added to Netflix on December 31st
- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
- Wonder Woman: 1984 (2020)
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- The Batman (2022)
- DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
- Black Adam (2022)
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Canon Chronological Order for DCEU on Netflix
A couple of notes: Aquaman, which slots somewhere between Justice League and Shazam! was not among the titles included in the Netflix drop, although it can be found on Max. Zack Snyder’s Justice League also wasn’t among the titles dropped here, but you can replace Justice League in your binge with that on Max instead.
Here’s the breakdown for watching the DC Extended Universe in chronological order in terms of events in the movies.
- Wonder Woman (2017) – Set during World War I (1914-1918), it’s the earliest movie in the timeline.
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) – This second entry takes place in 1984, around 70 years after the events of the first movie.
- Man of Steel (2013) – Introduces Superman, and it’s the first movie released in the DCEU. Thought to be set around the times of the movie’s release – 2013.
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – Set relatively soon after the events of Man of Steel.
- Suicide Squad (2016) – Set after Batman v Superman.
- Justice League (2017) – Similarly, set in the modern day.
- Aquaman (2018) – Set in the modern day.
- Shazam! (2019) – Set sometime after “Justice League”.
- Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) – Follows Harley Quinn post-Suicide Squad.
- The Suicide Squad (2021)
- Black Adam (2022) – Set in the contemporary DCEU timeline (thought to be around 2021 or 2022)
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) – The most recent movie in the DCEU (and possibly the penultimate before Aquaman 2) and set in the current year.
If you want to dive further into the chronology of the DCEU timeline, check out this excellent video created by Geekritique:
Kasey’s Watch List of DC Movies
For a bit of fun, let’s round out with a list of DC movies I consider to be the better and more watchable entries.
- Wonder Woman (2017) – An excellent movie that’s grounded (up until the final fight, anyway, which is a CGI shitfest) and well worth your time, unlike the messy sequel.
- Shazam! (2019) – Given this one sat outside of the Snyder films, which I’ve found to be cumbersome, Shazam! felt like an excellent family fantasy adventure movie and an almost perfect origin story.
- Joker (2019) – Superb movie with a stunning performance from Phoenix that gives a performance rivaling that of Heath Ledger.
- The Suicide Squad (2021) – Guardians of the Galaxy is great because of, in part, James Gunn’s direction and writing. I know that because the reboot of The Suicide Squad was equally enjoyable.
- The Batman (2022) – I’m a die-hard fan of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, so I was skeptical anything could top that trilogy, but Matt Reeves came close. The entire movie reminded me more of the video games than anything else, showcasing an excellent vision of Gotham City and its assortment of villains.
DC Movies Missing from Netflix
There are some missing DC movies from the Netflix library. Two of the major 2023 releases haven’t made their way onto Netflix as part of this deal and are instead exclusive to Max at the moment. Those are The Flash (2023) and Blue Beetle (2023). Naturally, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) isn’t on Netflix either, with that being exclusive to theaters until 2024, when it’ll head to Max.
Netflix is also missing the Zack Snyder director’s cut of Justice League.
Likewise, most of the animated movies from DC are not on Netflix.
What order will you be watching the DC movies in? Let us know in the comments below.