Now that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has left theaters and is available on digital, it is time to rank all the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films. This ranking leaves out Peacemaker since it was a TV show, but if it were to be placed in the list it would come in third. Yes, it’s that good. Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be included even though it streamed on Max and technically does not take place in DCEU continuity, yet it is still a film associated with the DCEU.

Looking at the films overall, one can’t help but see that it was not very cohesive as a cinematic universe since it went all over the place after Zack Snyder left the DCEU. Still, even though the DCEU turned out to be disjointed and full of unrealized potential, there were films that turned out to be great.

Of course, this list is subjective and everyone else will have different rankings, so feel free to mention them in the comments.

16. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

It is sadly shocking that the worst film of the DCEU was a sequel to one of the cinematic universe’s best films, especially since it was directed by Patti Jenkins, the director of the first Wonder Woman. The poor reception to Wonder Woman 1984 was arguably the beginning of the end for the troubled cinematic universe.

What sunk the film was the poorly thought-out script that creepily found a way to reunite Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) with her long-dead lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Then there was the entire situation with the wish-fulfilling villain who granted outrageous changes to the world in 1984 that was never referred to in other DCEU films which took place in modern times. And Wonder Woman has been able to fly all this time? Please, let’s move on.

15. Black Adam (2022)

After being announced that The Rock would portray the superhuman anti-hero years ago, the film was stuck in production hell, and it seemed as if this film would never be made. Yet somehow it was made but, Warner Bros. should not have bothered. The Rock’s behind-the scenes machinations crippled the Shazam! sequel since Black Adam was supposed to appear at one point as a villain for Shazam, but The Rock refused to appear in it because there was no way he would be seen as the bad guy. But his actions led to Henry Cavill portraying Superman for the final time, even if it was as a brief cameo. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save Black Adam.

The rest of the film was an uninspired yawner with generic superhuman action pieces that could not even be salvaged by appearances of new characters like the members of the Justic Society. A major flaw with Black Adam was that there was little danger for the title anti-hero because he easily won every single fight. This resulted in a story that had low dramatic stakes for the main character and a forgettable film.

14. Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

This sequel to Shazam! loses most of the charm of the original film as Zachary Levi’s character behaved like a complete buffoon for most of the film. As Shazam in an adult body, it was odd that the superhero acted like an immature pre-teen while in his normal young adult body, Billy Batson (Asher Angel), behaved with much more maturity.

Too often Shazam! Fury of the Gods came off like a paint-by-numbers, generic superhero yarn that was overcrowded with too many characters who were given little screentime to have fully fleshed out storylines. Then there was the ending, which was complete cop out, even though it featured Gal Gadot in a cameo as Wonder Woman.

13. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)

Try saying that three times fast, not even the Flash could pull that off! This film had the misfortune of coming out on the dawn of the pandemic and being something very few fans asked for. Seriously, Warner Bros. greenlit this film but not a solo Batman film with Ben Affleck! Or even a Man of Steel II!

Even though Margot Robbie turned in a solid performance as Harley Quinn, as do most of the other actors, this film looked and felt like a low-budget TV film or two-hour episode. It could have been worse, and the film has its moments, but it’s not exactly something fans should rush out to see.

12. The Flash (2023)

It was supposedly hyped as the greatest superhero film ever made by Warner Bros. executives. Ok, right. The Flash is certainly not even close to being that. However, the film was a wild ride which featured a welcome return of Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne. His reprisal was part of a bizarre time travel/alternate universe story that at one point was to be the method to resetting the DCEU. Unfortunately, the result was a jumbled mess that ended up being one of the biggest bombs in film history. What didn’t help the film was the criminal behavior of actor Ezra Miller which drove many away from seeing the film. Sure, Miller turned in a good performance, but the role should have been re-cast.  

The Flash was also hampered by some very awful and cheap looking CG, the questionable use of dead actors, and missed opportunities. If they could stick in a poorly rendered CG of Christopher Reeve for a cameo, why couldn’t the film version of the Flash meet the TV version played by Grant Gustin? What was worse is that by the end of the film, the main character apparently never learned his lesson about meddling with time. So, what was the point of all that?

11. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Any Zack Snyder fans should heed this film when arguing that the director should have been allowed to run rampant with his vision for the DCEU. The film had everything going for it, including massive hype that it was the first time DC’s two greatest heroes would meet onscreen. Yes, it was a box office success, but it should have been a member of the billion-dollar club and that is because of how the film turned out.

Bloated and incoherent, Batman v Superman blew its opportunity to wow fans thanks to its script that was more interested in setting up future DCEU films than telling a good story on its own. Also, the film borrowed too many elements from classic comic books like The Dark Knight Returns without proper context. The film was cluttered with Snyder’s overindulgent hyper-realistic shots that dwelled in slo-mo and dour cinematography. Some of the acting was inspired, especially Ben Affleck as Batman who surprised everyone by his performance, but Jesse Eisenberg’s horrendous miscasting as Lex Luthor undermined the film. The extended version of the film is much better as it helped flesh out the many dangling plot threads that were never developed in the original cut.

10. Suicide Squad (2016)

There is a great superhero action film buried somewhere in this film about supervillains forced to carry out a black ops mission for the U.S. Maybe, we’ll see it one day if Warner Bros. ever releases director David Ayer’s original cut. For now, we must settle for a film that tried to be DC’s answer to Guardians of the Galaxy and failing to do that.

The film featured many inspired performances like Will Smith as Deadshot, Joel Kinnamen as Randall Flag, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and of course, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Try as they did, the actors could only do so much as the script had a bunch of underpowered and mostly unlikeable characters facing off against an overpowered supernatural entity that danced stupidly. Thanks to poor editing and forced changes by film executives, the film varied wildly in tone from gritty and dour to flippant and silly as the plot careened all over the place.

9. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

Even though it could not exactly replicate the outlandishness of the original Aquaman, the sequel tried its best and was still a fun adventure. Jason Momoa was great as always portraying the Atlantean king. He clearly was having fun playing the title hero who struggled to juggle conflicting lives in his roles as a father, husband, king, superhero and surfer dude.

The film was not as imaginative or as inventive as the original, but the production did its best to deliver a sound superhero epic about Aquaman and his strained relationship with his half-brother (Patrick Wilson), as they teamed up to save Atlantis from a common foe. Overall, it was a worthy sequel to Aquaman, that is worth watching. Even though it was not intended to be the final DCEU film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, turned out to be a decent sendoff for the DCEU.

8. Justice League (2017)

Yes, Justice League was supposed to be the counterpart to The Avengers as it featured the first team-up of DC’s greatest superheroes on the big screen, but it fell far short of that goal thanks to rushed reshootings by Joss Whedon, who took over for Zack Snyder. The production was very troubled thanks to nervous and clueless Warner Bros. executives who were only interested in padding their wallets. Instead of delaying the film, the executives were concerned with bonuses they would get by releasing the film as scheduled. The result was an uneven, mishmashed vision from two directors with very different visual and storytelling styles.

Justice League was further impaired by shoddy CG that made the film look like a visually messy video game, and who can forget the ghastly removal of Henry Cavill’s mustache? Those scenes with him and the bad CG are nearly unwatchable. Even though this film had many issues, it still featured some virtues like some of the performances and the interactions of the Justice League members hinted at the possibility of greater things to come, but sadly that would never be. 

7. Shazam! (2019)

Admittedly, this superhero film was a bit silly and seemed oriented for younger audiences because of its young cast. But underneath the corny jokes and juvenile antics, was a film with a lot of heart. Shazam! echoed a lot of elements from Big, which clearly helped inspired the superhero film with its look at a young pre-teen who was suddenly transformed into a naïve adult superhero.

Shazam! might be less underwhelming than the superhero epics we are used to by now, but it delivers because of its emphasis on the characters, who struggled to deal with their fantastic situations. This was helped, of course, by some solid performances and great chemistry among the actors. Basically, Shazam! is a fun romp that explores the joys and responsibilities of being superhuman.

6. Wonder Woman (2017)

After the poor reception of prior DCEU films DC fans breathed a sigh of relief when this film turned out to be acclaimed by critics and audiences. Gal Gadot was never better in the role of Wonder Woman in a story that was distinctly unburdened by the continuity of the DCEU. Set in World War I, Wonder Woman was basically a fish-out-of-water story that showcased the Amazonian princess experiencing the violent outside world for the first time.

Gadot had great chemistry with her co-star Chris Pine, who played her love interest Steve Trevor as their relationship formed the heart of the film. It also boasted one of the DCEU’s best moments: when Wonder Woman emerged from the trenches to fight enemy soldiers in a battlefield. Still, the film was not without its flaws, such as an uninspiring final battle with your typical CG villain and a story that eerily copied many of the plot points of Captain America: The First Avenger. Still, Wonder Woman has a lot to offer.

5. Blue Beetle (2023)

There is very little that was original with this film’s superhero origin plot of the likeable everyguy who suddenly became a reluctant superhero. However, thanks to Blue Beetle’s back-to-basics approach with superhero films and heartfelt performances the film stood out from other DCEU productions. Xolo Maridueña really shined as the title hero Jaime Reyes who struggles to help his eclectic family and comes upon an alien battle suit.

The family dynamic in Blue Beetle is arguably its most notable merit as the actors have genuine chemistry with one another and embellished Reyes as a relatable character. What also helped the film were its well-choreographed action scenes and fast-moving plot. The script not only focused on the family dynamic of the Reyes Family but on social and class conflicts as the family struggled to fit into the high-tech world of the DCEU.

4. Aquaman (2018)

Credit has to go to director James Wan for being uninhibited with his superhero film that truly embraced its wild comic book roots. Actor Jason Momoa reveled in his role of the title hero which helped reimagine the image of the Aquaman character from a laughable D-list comic book character into a bonafide badass. The film was also imaginative with its depiction of underwater kingdoms and creatures that was quite dazzling. The less impressive underwater society of Namor shown in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever could not compare to the ones shown in Aquaman.

Brimming with great action, brisk pacing and vibrant production design, Aquaman turned out to be the most successful DCEU film, in fact it was the only one to earn over a billion dollars. Part of the reason for its success was because the film came out at the zenith of the current superhero film craze. However, much of it has to do with its exciting and appealing incorporation of the comic books that inspired it. 

3. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

This is the quintessential DCEU epic! Few ever expected this version of Justice League to ever be released because it was just a rough cut of the film before Zack Snyder left the project. Once the director was allowed to complete his original vision years later, the result proved to many that this version should have been released instead. Whether or not you are a fan of Snyder, this version clearly has his distinct directorial stamp on it. Hyper-realistic shots, many done in slo-mo, harsh lighting, lavish shots that look like Renaissance paintings, and intensely choreographed and epic fight scenes with stunning special effects.

The film was much darker and veered significantly from the original theatrical version, but it fully fleshed out many of the characters and their arcs with a few notable exceptions. We actually got to see Cyborg developed as a unique hero, many designs and sequences were improved, and the goal of the villain was clearer, which helped raise the stakes for our heroes. We even saw Darkseid in all his evil glory! The only thing that harmed the film was that it not only hinted at what could have been, but it ended on a cliffhanger that took place in a dark future. How could Snyder do this us? Oh, well, at least we had the chance to see his unfiltered vision for the DCEU.

2. The Suicide Squad (2021)

Director James Gunn hit a super homerun with this inventive and thrilling do-over of the Suicide Squad concept. Brimming with Gunn’s trademark dark humor, character interactions and visual whimsy, The Suicide Squad should have been a huge hit, but it came out at the wrong time when Warner Bros. was flailing about during the pandemic. What also helped the film stand apart from other DCEU films was its willingness to kill off amiable characters and featuring outlandish villains taken straight from DC’s silver age.

The Suicide Squad’s best assets were the characters, which were performed with great enthusiasm by a winning ensemble cast. Margot Robbie turned in her best performance as Harley Quinn and Idris Elba was so relatable and grounded as Bloodsport. Meanwhile, the character King Shark stole the movie as the DCEU’s version of Groot, thanks to a wonderful script and Sylvester Stallone’s inspired voice acting. Its creative success was not able to salvage the DCEU, but it provided us with a glimpse of how James Gunn’s new vision for live-action DC films will be like.

1. Man of Steel (2013)

In a way, it is sad that the best film of an extensive cinematic universe turned out to be its very first one. But here we are. This Superman film was and remains one of the most controversial superhero films thanks to Zack Snyder’s gritty reimagining of the Man of Steel. In his deconstruction of the Superman mythos, Snyder’s vision set a tone for the DCEU that stood apart from the competition. Even though his take of Superman may be considered too dark for those that wanted a more traditional and optimistic Superman, Man of Steel updated the Last Son of Krypton and his story, which was needed for modern audiences.

The grounded and more realistic look at what it would be like if a superhuman alien was raised on Earth also doubled as a First Contact story and an exploration of the struggle of becoming a responsible adult. Henry Cavill was perfectly cast as a more emotionally vulnerable Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman who strived to find his place in the world. He was not perfect, he was wracked with uncertainty, he made mistakes, he was forced to kill. All of this may not fit into the ideal many had about Superman, but credit has to go to Snyder for having the fortitude to present a different look at Superman.

The film featured terrific performances, special effects and never-before-seen action sequences that finally let us see the horror and epic scale of superhuman battles. Even though many cannot appreciate the film for its own merits, Man of Steel established the template for the DCEU going forward. Simply put, Man of Steel is the DCEU at its best.

José Soto