Step Aside, MCU: Here’s All the DC Universe Content You Can Stream on HBO Max

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With the release of Superman in 1978, DC Comics broke ground and practically invented the blockbuster genre of superhero films. Decades later, with dozens of animated movies, live-action shows, and a new ensemble-led DCEU (DC Extended Universe) film series set to rival Marvel, the expansive franchises have finally found their permanent home on HBO Max.

DC Universe, the former platform for DCEU content, was rebranded as DC Universe Infinite by WarnerMedia in January 2021, with a sole focus on a library of more than 24,000 comic books. HBO Max will become the exclusive streaming platform for DC content, with a huge catalogue having been added in January, such as the critically-acclaimed series Batman: The Animated Series and multiple Batman movies. The move had been expected after DC Universe’s highly-rated series, Doom Patrol, was repackaged as an HBO Max original for its second season earlier last year.

The DC content on HBO Max includes new series, DC classics and DC Universe originals like Young Justice, Titans and Stargirl, along with the popular adult animated series Harley Quinn. Fans can also expect the “Snyder Cut” of DC’s 2017 Justice League film, Director Zack Snyder’s four-hour long director’s cut, to premiere on HBO Max on March 18th.

How Can I Watch HBO Max Online?

If you want to stream upcoming DCEU shows and movies online, you’ll have to sign up for HBO Max. An HBO Max subscription currently costs $14.99 per month, comparable in price to the Disney+, EPSN+ and Hulu bundle, which has all three services for $12.99.

But if you’ve been waiting to sign up for HBO Max, now’s the best time. One of the best HBO Max streaming deals has been extended until the end of March, which will give you a 20% discount if your sign-up for the six month plan now. You’ll have unlimited ad-free access to all of HBO’s TV shows, movies, documentaries and Max Originals, as well as an entire new slate of films Warner Bros. is set to release on the platform in 2021. The promotion kicked off with Wonder Woman 1984 streaming online, but even though the film left the platform in January, you can still look forward to upcoming DC flicks like The Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. 

Related: Is HBO Max Worth It?

Your HBO Max subscription lets you stream DC films free in 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos from your computer, phone, gaming console, or through your TV. The streaming service is also now officially available on on Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices, Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex.

What DC Live-Action Movies Are Available on HBO Max?

We’ve compiled our list of all the DC movies streaming on HBO Max right now, listed in order of the year they were released. While the DC films of the past few years like Justice League and Batman v Superman have been establishing lore for an extended universe in the same vein as the MCU, the films on this list are much more likely to be standalone additions like Joker, or have their own self-contained canon, such as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Unlike our Marvel watch guide, there’s not a specific viewing order we recommend, as the DCEU has just as many alternate universes, time travel shenanigans, and reincarnations as the comics they’re based on.

• Superman: The Movie (1978)
• Superman II (1981)
• Superman III (1983)
• Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
• Batman (1989)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Batman Forever (1995)
• Batman and Robin (1997)
• Catwoman (2004)
• V for Vendetta (2005)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• Superman Returns (2006)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Watchmen (2009)
• The Losers (2010)
• Green Lantern (2011)
• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Man of Steel (2013)
• Necessary Evil: The Super-Villains of DC Comics (2013) – Documentary
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
• Suicide Squad (2016)
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition (2016)
• Wonder Woman (2017)
• Justice League (2017)
• Aquaman (2018)
• Shazam! (2019)
• Joker (2019)
• Birds of Prey: Harley Quinn (2020)

What DC Live Action Series Are Available on HBO Max? 

Over the years, there have been several live-action DC TV shows, from the campy and nostalgic Batman of the 1960s, to the successful 10-year run of Smallville in 2001. Paving the way for modern comic book TV’s ubiquity, Warner Bros created an entire extended universe, frequently called the Arrowverse, after they launched Arrow on the CW in 2012. Shows in the franchise have aired on a variety of networks and streaming platforms such as the former DC Universe, Netflix, and HBO Max.

Based on Warner Bros. licensing contract with Netflix, as of right now, the only Arrowverse series currently streaming on HBO Max is Batwoman. Moving forward, though, all new DC TV show content produced by The CW will now be released on HBO Max as opposed to Netflix, as well as shows that were formerly DC Universe originals, like Doom Patrol. But only time will tell if the other franchises will move to HBO Max permanently. Here’s what’s streaming on HBO Max now from DC.

• Wonder Woman (1975-1979)
• Titans (2018-)
• Batwoman (2019-)
• Watchmen (2019)
• Doom Patrol (2019-)
• Stargirl (2020-)

NOT CURRENTLY STREAMING ON HBO MAX: Arrow (2012), The Flash (2014), Gotham (2014), Supergirl (2015), Legends of Tomorrow (2016), Lucifer (2016), and Black Lightning (2018) are available on Netflix. Smallville (2001) is on Hulu, Swamp Thing (2019) is free on CW Seed, Pennyworth (2019) is streaming on EPIX, Krypton (2018) is on Syfy, and Constantine (2014) isn’t currently available to stream.

Which DC Animated TV Series Are Streaming on HBO Max? 

Warner Bros. Animation has also produced several highly-rated DC animated series, although not all of them are currently on the streaming platform, especially older series like Super Friends. Batman: The Animated Series and Beware the Batman have been the newest additions to HBO Max, as well as the upcoming seasons of the DC Universe hit, Harley Quinn.

• Aquaman (1967-1970)
• Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)
• Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
• Justice League (2001-2004)
• Justice League: Unlimited (2004-2006)
• Teen Titans (2003-2006)
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008-2011)
• Young Justice (2010-)
• Green Lantern: The Animated Series (2012-2013)
• Beware the Batman (2013-2014)
• Vixen (2015-2016)
• Constantine: City of Demons (2018-2019)
• Harley Quinn (2019-)
• Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons (2020-)

What DC Animated Movies Are Available on HBO Max?

HBO Max has the biggest library of DC animated movies streaming online, and you can find just about anything on there from grittier versions of Batman to the more family-friendly DC Superhero Girls. This list is extensive, and as we mentioned before, continuity varies wildly, but most of these films stand on their own. Some follow comic continuity or specific storylines more closely than others, so you might want to check out some of the comics online before you jump in.

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
• The Batman vs. Dracula (2005)
• Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006)
• Superman: Doomsday (2007)
• Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2007)
• Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
• Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
• Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2019)
• Wonder Woman (2009) – Animated
• Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
• Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
• Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
• Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)
• All-Star Superman (2011)
• Batman: Year One (2011)
• Superman vs. the Elite (2012)
• Justice League: Doom (2012)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 (2012)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 (2013)
• Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
• Superman: Unbound (2013)
• Son of Batman (2014)
• Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)
• JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014)
• Justice League: War (2014)
• Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)
• Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)
• Batman vs. Robin (2015)
• Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
• Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
• Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016)
• Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)
• DC Superhero Girls: Hero of the Year (2016)
• DC Superhero Girls: Intergalactic Games (2017)
• Batman and Harley Quinn (2017)
• Justice League Dark (2017)
• Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)
• Batman vs. Two-Face (2017)
• Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)
• Freedom Fighters: The Ray (2018)
• Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)
• DC Superhero Girls: Legends of Atlantis (2018)
• Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
• Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019)
• Batman: Hush (2019)
• Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019)
• Reign of the Superman (2019)
• Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020)
• Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)
• Batman: Death in the Family (2020) – Interactive Animated Movie

Which LEGO DC Movies are Available to Stream on HBO Max? 

LEGO has collaborated with Warner Bros. over the years to bring comedic films featuring brick versions of your favorite superheroes to the screen. But in April 2020, Universal Pictures announced it had struck a five-year deal for exclusive production rights of further Lego movies. So we may not see LEGO Batman or Superman for a while, but there could be LEGO movies based on Universal franchises such as Jurassic Park or Fast and Furious in the future.

• The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
• Lego: Batman the Movie: DC Super Heroes Unite (2013)
• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015)
• Lego: Justice League Attack of the Legion of Doom (2015)
• Lego Justice League: Cosmic Clash (2016)
• Lego Justice League: Gotham City Breakout (2016)
• Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain (2017)
• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis (2018)
• Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash (2018)
• Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High (2018)
• Lego DC: Shazam!: Magic and Monsters (2020)

What New DC Series Are Coming to HBO Max?

With new seasons of old DC Universe favorites, spin-offs, and DCEU movies being released on HBO Max in the coming year, here’s a full list of what to expect. Note: this list doesn’t include previous animated movies or TV series that are slowly being released on the platform in 2021, but there will be a lot of drops, so check up on HBO Max throughout the year to see what’s added.

• Doom Patrol (Season 3-2021)
• Titans (Season 3-2021)
• Harley Quinn (Season 3-2021)
• Young Justice (Season 4-2021)
• Green Lantern Series (TBA)
• Untitled The Batman Prequel (TBA)
• Peacemaker (TBA)
• DMZ (TBA)
• Justice League Dark (TBA)
• DC Super Hero High (TBA)
• Aquaman: King of Atlantis (TBA)
• Strange Adventures (TBA)

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