Jon Berg

The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The DCEU also includes comic books, short films, novels, and video games. Like the original DC Universe in comic books, the DCEU was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters. Warner Bros. had plans to bring various DC Comics superheroes together in films since 2002, when Wolfgang Petersen was set to direct a crossover of the Superman and Batman film franchises. After a planned Justice League film was put on hold in 2008 and initial universe plans were scrapped due to the critical and commercial disappointment of the 2011 film Green Lantern, Warner Bros. established this shared universe in 2013. The DCEU began with the film Man of Steel (2013), a reboot of the Superman film series, followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which served as a reboot of the Batman film series. These films were followed by Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017; a director's cut of the film, Zack Snyder's Justice League, was released in 2021), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Black Adam (2022). Future films include Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in 2023, with other films in various stages of development. The DCEU was expanded to include television series for the streaming service HBO Max in 2022, beginning with Peacemaker.