The DC Universe is the fictional shared universe that serves as a setting for DC Comics stories, for most of the interlinked mainstream DC comics.
DC Universe may also refer to:
DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, commonly abbreviated as TMNT, is a media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers trained in ninjutsu who fight evil in New York City. The franchise encompasses printed media, television series', feature films, video games, and merchandise.
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28. Writer Gardner Fox conceived the team as a revival of the Justice Society of America, a similar team from DC Comics from the 1940s which had been pulled out of print due to a decline in sales. The Justice League is an all-star ensemble cast of established superhero characters from DC Comics' portfolio. Diegetically, these superheroes usually operate independently but occasionally assemble as a team to tackle especially formidable villains. This is in contrast to certain other superhero teams such as the X-Men, whose characters were created specifically to be part of the team, with the team being central to their identity. The cast of the Justice League usually features a few highly popular characters who have their own solo books, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, alongside several lesser-known characters who benefit from exposure.
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated superhero television series based on the DC Comics character Superman. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation and originally aired on Kids' WB from September 6, 1996, to February 12, 2000. It was the second series in the DC Animated Universe after Batman: The Animated Series, and like its predecessor, it has been acclaimed for its writing, voice acting, maturity, and modernization of the title character's comic-book mythos.
X-Men: The Animated Series, also known as X-Men, is an animated superhero television series aired in the United States for five seasons from October 31, 1992, to September 20, 1997, on Fox's Fox Kids programming block. It was Marvel Comics' second attempt at an animated X-Men television series after the pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was not picked up. Set in the same fictional universe as Spider-Man (1994–1998), Earth-92131, it was followed by a revival, X-Men '97, which began airing on March 20, 2024, on Disney+ to critical acclaim.
Wildstorm Productions is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California. The imprint took its name from a portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch.
The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC continuity. It contains various superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Flash; as well as teams such as the Justice League, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans. It also contains well-known supervillains, including Joker, Lex Luthor, Cheetah, Reverse-Flash, and Darkseid.
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Teen Titans is an American animated superhero television series created by Glen Murakami and developed by Murakami, David Slack and Sam Register. Based on DC Comics's superhero team Teen Titans, it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and DC Comics. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003; its first two seasons also aired on Kids' WB. Initially, only four seasons were planned, but the popularity of the series led to Cartoon Network ordering a fifth season. The final half-hour episode of the show, "Things Change", aired on January 16, 2006; it was later followed by a TV movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, that premiered on September 15 the same year, serving as the series finale. A 15-minute episode titled "The Lost Episode" was released as part of an online promotional campaign by Post Consumer Brands in January 2005.
Justice League Unlimited (JLU) is an American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the previous Justice League animated series and picks up around two years after it. JLU debuted on July 31, 2004, on Toonami and ended on May 13, 2006.
Earth Prime is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with a bare minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it — often the absence or near-absence of metahumans, or with their existence confined to fictional narratives like comics. The "Earth Prime" of a given fictional setting may or may not have an intrinsic value to or vital connection to the other Earths it exists alongside.
The DC Animated Universe is a shared universe centered on a group of animated television series based on characters by DC Comics and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It retroactively began in 1992 with what came to be called Batman: The Animated Series and ended in 2006 with Justice League Unlimited. The associated media franchise also includes theatrical and direct-to-video feature films, as well as shorts, comic books, video games, and other multimedia adaptations.
Batman action figures have been produced since the 1940s. These action figures, inspired by the character's appearance in comics and serials, were created by DC Comics and manufactured by various toy companies. These figures were made of various materials such as wood, tin, and plastic. They were typically between 6 and 8 inches in height and featured movable joints that allowed them to be posed in various positions.
Lego Batman is a discontinued theme and product range of the Lego building toy, introduced in 2006, based on the superhero character Batman, under license from DC Comics. The sets feature vehicles, characters and scenes from the comics and films. The inspirations for the design of these vary widely. For example, the Batmobile retains its basic sleek shape and prominent fins from the Tim Burton films, whereas the "Bat-Tank" seems to be based on the tank-like Batmobile in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. The theme was relaunched in early 2012 as part of the Lego DC Universe Superheroes line, which is a sub-theme of the Lego Super Heroes line. In total there were 17 sets, almost all of them including Batman.
The Marvel Universe is the fictional universe that serves as a setting for Marvel Comics stories.
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.
Firefly is an American space Western media franchise created by Joss Whedon and produced by Mutant Enemy Productions. The franchise includes the TV series Firefly, the film Serenity, and other media.
Teen Titans Go! is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series was announced following the popularity of DC Nation's New Teen Titans shorts. The production companies of the series are DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, with the animation outsourced to Canada at Copernicus Studios and Bardel Entertainment.
M.A.S.K. is a media franchise created by Kenner. The main premise revolved around the fight between the titular protagonist underground task force and the terrorist organization V.E.N.O.M.. After its initial launch in 1985, the franchise spawned a variety of products and presentations, including four series of action figures, an animated television series, video games, and comics; as of 2018, a live-action theatrical film is in development by Hasbro and Paramount.