The Perfect Way To Watch The DC Cinematic Universe

Wonder Woman

The events of Wonder Woman pre-date the events of all the other DC movies by a wide margin. The film flashes way back to show the creation of the Amazon women warriors by Zeus, who all live on the secret island of Themyscira.

The bulk of the story takes place in 1918, when US pilot Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) accidentally stumbles upon Themyscira while fighting in World War I. Diana Prince follows Steve to London, where she makes her mark on history by fighting alongside the Allied forces in World War I. The movie is bookended by “present day” scenes that take place sometime after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Man Of Steel

Director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is the film that started it all, and largely takes place in present day (circa 2013) although the film opens with a prologue that shows the destruction of Kal-El’s home planet Krypton, and we subsequently see scenes of Clark Kent as a child and teenager growing up in Kansas before we get to “present day” where he’s somewhere in his twenties, so about 20 years after the destruction of Krypton.

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice

Timeline-wise, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice kind of runs the gamut. There are flashbacks to Bruce Wayne’s childhood in 1981 when his parents were killed, flashbacks to show the ending of Man of Steel from Bruce Wayne’s perspective, and there are flashforwards to a desolated Earth that’s been overrun by villain Darkseid (those “Knightmare” scenes). But the bulk of the film’s story takes place about 18 months after the events of Man of Steel, with Ben Affleck’s Batman now extremely hardened and harboring a grudge against Superman.

Suicide Squad

The events of Suicide Squad take place about a year after the events of Batman v Superman, as the death of Superman is referenced in the film and we even get a cameo of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne meeting with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) having now taken on a more leadership role among the superheroes. But there are also flashbacks to Batman tracking down Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) that take place before Man of Steel.

Justice League

The bulk of Justice League takes place about two years after the events of Batman v Superman and one year after Suicide Squad, but we also get a big flashback sequence to thousands of years ago when the villainous Steppenwolf attempted to take over Earth and was foiled by an alliance between Amazons, Atlanteans, humans, and Olympian Gods.

Aquaman

The standalone Aquaman movie takes place primarily several months after the events of Justice League, as we watch Jason Momoa’s titular hero protect his own kingdom. But there are flashbacks that show Aquaman’s origin story back in 1985.

Shazam

Most of the standalone film Shazam! takes place over Christmas in 2018, but the film opens with a flashback to 1974 to reveal the origin story of its villain Thaddeus Sivana.

Birds Of Prey

This standalone Harley Quinn movie takes place about four years after the events of Suicide Squad. In the wake of Batman v Superman and Justice League, the DCEU continued to get more disconnected, to the point that Birds of Prey has only very few references to Harley Quinn’s actions in Suicide Squad.

My Favourite Film So Far In The DCEU..

Shazam!

It is an overly cheesy film, but in the best way possible. The film’s fight sequences are also interesting to watch and make the movie enjoyable. There also is good and believable character development throughout.

The acting is very reflective of the movie’s tone — good and comedic. The movie is not supposed to be extremely realistic but rather it was to be light hearted. Zachary Levi as Shazam plays the role in a very funny and relatable way, and his acting is cohesive with his teenage alter ego.

If your looking for a great, fun and unique superhero film this is the one for you!