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DC Animated Universe

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 70.188.224.190 (talk) at 18:10, 4 August 2013 (→In-continuity in the DCAU). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see DC Universe (disambiguation).
"DC Animated" redirects here. For the feature films produced by Warner Bros. Animation, see DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
File:DCAU.jpg
An image of many of the DCAU heroes, as seen in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Dark Heart."

The DC animated universe (DCAU) is a fan term for a series of popular animated television series and related spin-offs produced by Warner Bros. Animation which share the same continuity. Most of these series are adapted from DC Comics properties. This continuity is also sometimes referred to as the Timmverse (after producer Bruce Timm, the continuity's most consistent creative influence) and in the past, the Diniverse (after writer Paul Dini, who had mostly departed from Warner Bros. Animation when Justice League was in production).

In-continuity in the DCAU

While there have been several animated series based upon DC Comics characters over the decades, what is commonly accepted as the "DC animated universe" refers to the stable of shows and films that spin off from Batman: The Animated Series, the original show in this universe. However, the following series, Superman: The Animated Series, showed the first signs of superheroes crossing over when the title character had encounters with heroes such as The Flash and Green Lantern. Older shows such as Super Friends and newer shows such as The Batman and Legion of Super Heroes are not part of this continuity. Other productions, like the 2006 direct-to-video film Superman: Brainiac Attacks,as well as the DC Universe Animated Original Movies such as Superman: Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier, are not considered part of the DCAU. [citation needed], despite utilizing similar character designs and much of the same voice cast as previous DCAU series.

TV series

The DC animated universe primarily consists of these animated series (and their related films; see below):

Films

The following spin-off films, theatrical feature films and direct-to-video, also are part of the DCAU continuity:

Short film

  • Chase Me (2003) – A short film with no dialogue based on The New Batman Adventures.

Web cartoons

  • Gotham Girls (2000–2002) – A Macromedia Flash web cartoon series, this was downloadable from the WB website, and featured DCAU versions of characters voiced by their original actors. A DC Comics miniseries inspired by the web series was released in 2004. All three seasons of Gotham Girls were released on the Birds of Prey DVD box set in 2008.
  • Lobo (2000) – A Flash cartoon series starring Lobo, the galactic bounty hunter, the web-series is a spin-off of the Superman episode "The Main Man". A wax statue with the same character design as Lobo in this series appeared in an episode of Gotham Girls and he also made a reappearance in the Justice League episode "Hereafter" briefly becoming a member of the Justice League. Both of these examples somewhat support that the webseries is part of the official DCAU, although this is still disputed.

Comic books

Main article: DC animated universe (comics)

Many of the DCAU productions have also had comic books created based on the characters of the various series, though their canonicity is disputable. The comics are:

Video games

There have also been a number of DCAU tie-in video games released to correspond with the various animated television series and films. Some of these games have original plots, while others follow previous stories; their status in DCAU canon is not yet known. The games are:

Year Title Consoles
1993 Batman: The Animated Series Gameboy
1994 The Adventures of Batman & Robin Super NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD/Sega CD, Game Gear
1997 Superman [2] Gameboy
1999 Superman 64 Nintendo 64
2000 Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
2001 Batman: Chaos in Gotham Game Boy Color
Batman: Gotham City Racer PlayStation
Batman: Vengeance PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows
2002 Justice League: Injustice for All Game Boy Advance
Static Shock (canceled game) [3]
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips PlayStation 2, GameCube
2003 Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube
Justice League: Chronicles Game Boy Advance
Superman: Countdown to Apokolips

Five of these games feature voice acting from the casts of the original shows. These are: The Adventures of Batman and Robin (SEGA CD/Mega CD version), Superman 64, Batman Vengeance, Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. The SEGA CD/Mega CD game, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, also features animation from one of the studios that animated Batman: The Animated Series.

Characters adapted from the DCAU

See also: List of DC animated universe characters

Though the DCAU is an off-shoot of the mainstream DC comics universe, it has also affected the DC universe in return. The following characters were originally created for their respective series in the DCAU, but were eventually adapted into the mainstream DC comic continuity:

In addition, the backstory of Mr. Freeze was adapted from his portrayal in Batman: The Animated Series, and the visuals and/or characterization of Green Lantern, Tim Drake, Supergirl, Toyman, Two-Face, Parasite, Metallo, Clayface, and many others have been applied to their comic counterparts.[citation needed] On a different note, issue #22 of DC Comics' Superman/Batman series, which explores alternate realities, had Bizarro transported to an alternate version of Gotham City patrolled by a Batman using the Batman Beyond version of the costume. The future of Batman Beyond made an appearance in Countdown to Final Crisis #21, as part of the new Multiverse in the wake of the Infinite Crisis and 52. A Batman Beyond-inspired universe is currently being labeled as Earth-12 and a Batman Beyond series is planned.

Roland Daggett was adapted into the live-action film The Dark Knight Rises as a minor antagonist (renamed "John Daggett") and CEO of a rival company to Wayne Enterprises.

The future of the DCAU

With the conclusion of the Justice League Unlimited animated series, Warner Bros has moved on to adapting new versions of the various DC comics properties, rather than reviving the DCAU counterparts.

The last script written for DCAU continuity was titled Justice League: Worlds Collide. This screenplay was created to bridge the several month gap between Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. The draft was eventually adapted into the February 2010 film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, with the removal of any references specific to DCAU continuity, replacing Green Lantern John Stewart with Hal Jordan, and the casting of celebrities rather than the voice actors of the DCAU.

The latest update on the DCAU:

I very much appreciate that so many of you guys have so much love for the old series, from BTAS through JLU (I do too) -- but frankly, I doubt that we'll be formally, "officially" doing another movie or TV series set in that continuity (...) anything is possible, so conceivably that could change someday -- instead of saying "THE DCAU IS DEAD", maybe we can just say it's in a state of suspended animation until further notice...?

— Bruce Timm, 2009

Comics

The Batman Beyond comic series is a continuation of the Batman Beyond franchise, and the future time period of the DC Animated Universe.[4] The miniseries began in June 2010, under the title Future Evil. In August 2010, the series was announced to continue following the completion of the first arc as an on-going series.[5] Though the series has since been cancelled, the door has been left open to future work on the universe in the comic book medium. Superman Beyond, a one-shot comic set in the same universe as Batman Beyond, was released in 2011. Batman Beyond Unlimited, a title chronicling the adventures of the future Justice League introduced in the DCAU, was released in February 2012.[6]

References

  1. ^ http://www.dcauresource.com/braveandtheboldepisode/brave055.php
  2. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Game-Boy/dp/B00002SW79/ref=sr_1_9?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1375529205&sr=1-9&keywords=superman+64
  3. ^ http://www.blockbuster.com/games/catalog/gameDetails/2399
  4. ^ "Batman Beyond Press Release". Tfaw.com. 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  5. ^ "Batman Beyond To Receive An Ongoing Series". Inside Pulse. 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  6. ^ Dc Comics Launches Batman Beyond Unlimited | DC Comics

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