1x01 Rebirth (1)

For Ali. I went a little extra and made a write up explaining my choices, as follows:

Batman (1989) - Tim Burton's OG Batman movie. Not super accurate to the character, but a lot of fun, a moody, gothic vibe, and the first notable big screen appearance for the B-man

Batman Returns (1992) - Tim Burton's Batman sequel that features Danny DeVito as the penguin and the legendary Michell Pfeiffer Catwoman. Again not high cinema, but its another classic Batman and a fun watch

Batman The Animated Series (TAS) - My personal favorite take on Batman, features legendary voice acting by Kevin Conroy & Mark Hamill, borrows the mood of Gotham from Tim Burton's film, but does a great job expanding the world and creating compelling characters

-- S1E03 - Heart of Ice - Mr. Freeze's first appearance in TAS, I've heard that before this he didn't really have a name or story, but the writer here created an excellent story of a scientist trying to save his dying wife that has stuck to the character ever since

-- S1E34 - I Am the Night - An episode with a character notable for his stoicism opening up about the trauma that drives him. Very well written and humanizing for a larger than life character

-- S1E51&52 - Robin's Reckoning - The man responsible for Dick Grayson's (Robin) parents dying is back in Gotham, and these episodes deal with Robin searching for revenge and Batman trying to keep him from crossing a line. It explores Batman's idea of morality, but also does a great job of showing the relationship between Batman and Robin.

-- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - A movie spun off from TAS, features The Phantasm as a new vigilante in Gotham who is not afraid to kill. This movie really explores Batman's no killing rule and created a great foil to him, and has become a fan favorite.

The New Batman Adventures - Essentially a continuation of TAS, but set in the future, with Dick Grayson's Robin becoming Nightwing, and Tim Drake becoming the new robin

-- S1E06 - Double Talk - Features the villain Scarface, a mentally ill ventriloquist whose puppet persona is a gang leader, trying to avoid crime after being released from Arkham. An episode that focuses less on superhero shenanigans, and more on Batman trying to help a troubled man.

-- S2E05 - Old Wounds - Nightwing tells the new Robin stories about his past, and his disagreements with Batman. A great exploration of the weird Bat-family dynamic.

Batman Beyond - This is a show that has no right to be this good. Its original idea being the desire to make a Batman cartoon, but with Batman in high school to appeal to kids. What results is a cyberpunk-ish story of Terry McGuinness, the Batman of 2039, being trained by an aging Bruce Wayne. It's not technically Batman Batman, but it's a personal favorite.

-- S1E01&02 - Rebirth - The introduction to this new character

-- S3E07&08 - The Call - Features the new Batman teaming up with the Justice League of the future. It has old Superman in it and I love it.

-- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker - Another movie spin off that has the Joker appearing in a future where he was assumed to be long gone. Great story. Another fan favorite.

Justice League - S4E13 - Epilogue - I'm only including one Justice League episode due to it's Batman-central content. It's another great show, but rarely spends much time on any single character. This episode however has Terry McGuinness as a grown man conflicted with his life as the next Batman. It serves as an end to his story on screen, and has some great Batman moments.

Batman: Year One (2011) - An animated take on the first year of Batman's war on crime. Contrasts his story with Jim Gordon's joining the Gotham Police force.

Justice League: Doom (2012) - An adaptation of the legendary "Tower of Babel" comic story, in which a villain steal's Batman's contingency plans to take down the Justice League and uses it against them. Does a great job showing both Batman's stoic lack of trust and policy of preparedness as both an integral part of his character and an obstacle to all his relationships.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) - This is an iffy pick. It's based on another legendary comic, but takes some questionable liberties in turning Batgirl and Batman's relationship into a romantic one, in stark, problematic contrast with the mentor relationship they usually have. If you can ignore that, the story is a Batman classic, however.

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) - I won't say too much about this to avoid spoiling it, but it pushes Batman's morality and explores his greatest failures to their furthest limits. It's one of the all time great Batman stories.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises [Pts 1&2] (2012-2013) - Another nearly direct adaptation of perhaps the best Batman comic ever written. It has an old Bruce Wayne deciding to take up the cape after a long retirement, and has so much to say, that trying to summarize its thesis would be a foolish task. Just watch it.

Batman Begins (2005) - The beginning of the great Nolan Trilogy! Its not the best of the trilogy, but it is the start. Its alright. I have mixed feelings about these films, but it's hard to deny their impact.

The Dark Knight (2008) - The one with Heath Ledger as the Joker. This is perhaps the definitive Batman movie. The best of the Nolan trilogy, and a fantastic movie in its own right. There's not much to say that hasn't already been said. It's really good.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - The end of the trilogy. This movie is at the very least a fun watch. Its content is the subject of much debate and parody. I personally feel that it falls flat frequently and doesn't live up to its predecessor. That said, ignoring it on any Batman list would be treason. At least its not by Zach Snyder.

Honorable Mentions:

I am personally enamored by the campy Adam West Batman. The silly nature of it both flies in the face of the gothic vibe that Batman is associated with, but when it comes down to it these are comic book characters, not Shakespeare, and I think watching them be as goofy as their concepts are is refreshing for a franchise that has become known for its brooding. It's not everyone's cup of tea though.

I think Zach Snyder is a particularly tone-deaf creator, but I love Batfleck's costume and action sequences. That said, the character was given all the wrong kinds of attention and failed to develop a cohesive balance between the Batman we know and love and the edgier interpretations of people like Frank Miller that Zach reveres so much. It was a big swing and a miss in my book.

The 2019 Joker movie was well done in my opinion. That said, its hard to ignore that its best elements were lifted from Taxi Driver and where Batman usually serves as a foil to the Joker, this movie unabashedly freebases edgy teenage anarchy. Its worth watching if you have the critical ability to see through the edgy bullshit, but only barely.

The official DC Animated Universe in a somewhat chronoligal order. Infos taken from all over the web. I tried to order some episodes differently, as you can see with Batman TAS' Two-Face 2 Parter - which is now separated by a couple of episodes, as the second part states that there were 6 months between the events of the two.

Based on a list I found in 2017 that also includes the various DCAU comic series too. Those won't be on here, though.

The following series/movies are not canon and should be skipped if desiring a purely canon DCAU experience:

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
Superman: Brainiac Attacks
Batman and Harley Quinn
Justice League vs. The Fatal Five
Teen Titans (whole series)
Young Justice (whole series)
Legion of Superheroes (whole series)

This is a chronological watching order of all movies, series episodes and specials of the DC Animated Universe.

Yearly Stats

Episodes Plays - 1537
Episodes per Month - 128.1
Episodes per Week - 29.0
Episodes per Day - 4.2

Monthly Stats

Jan - 187 Episodes
Feb - 90 Episodes
Mar - 109 Episodes
April - 161 Episodes
May - 137 Episodes
June - 56 Episodes
July - 88 Episodes
Aug - 178 Episodes
Sept - 128 Episodes
Oct - 118 Episodes
Nov - 125 Episodes
Dec - 144 Episodes

New Shows Started: 22
AEW Dynamite, Batwoman, The Boys, Carnival Row, Catch 22, Chernobyl, Deadly Class, Doom Patrol, The Enemy Within, The Fix, God Friended Me, The Good Place, His Dark Materials, Last Chance U, The Mandalorian, My Hero Academia, New Amsterdam, Prodigal Son, Stumptown, Treadstone, Umbrella Academy, Watchmen, Whiskey Cavilier

Ended Shows Completed: 23
Ballers, Banshee, The Big Bang Theory, Catch 22, Cloak & Dagger, Deadly Class, Designated Survivor, Elementary, Friday Night Lights, Game of Thrones, The Gifted, Gotham, Into The Badlands, iZombie, Jessica Jones, Krypton, Legion, Lethal Weapon, Nikita, Preacher, The Punisher, Treadstone, Whiskey Cavalier

Total Series Watched - 80

Series Watched -
AEW Dynamite - S1
American Gods - S2
Arrow - S7x10 - S8
Ballers - S4x03 -S5
Banshee - S3x03 - S4
Batman Beyond -EP 1, 2, & 3
Batwoman - S1x01-S1x09
The Big Bang Theory - S12x11 - S12x24
Bitchin' Ride - S5, S6
Black Lightning - S2x10 - S3x09
The Blacklist - S6 - S7x10
Blindspot - S4x09 - S4x22
The Boys - S1
Bull - S3x11 - S4x10
Carnival Row - S1
Catch 22 - S1
Chernobyl - S1
Chuck - S1x01 - S1x02
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - S11
Criminal Minds - 5x20
DC's Legends of Tomorrow - S4x09 - S4x15
Deadly Class - S1
The Defiant Ones - S1
Designated Survivor - S3
Doom Patrol - S1
Elementary - S7
Empire - S5x10 - S6x10
The Enemy Within - S1
Family Guy - S17x10 - S18x09
FBI - S1x11 - S2x10
The Fix - S1
The Flash - S5x10 - S6x09
Friday Night Lights - S3, S4, S5
Game of Thrones - S8
Gargoyles - S1x01 - S1x07
The Gifted - S2x10 - S2x16
Glow - S3
God Friended Me - S1, S2x01 -S2x10
The Good Place - S1, S2, S3, S4x01 - S4x09
Gotham - S5
His Dark Materials - S1x01 - S1x08
Into The Badlands - S3x09 - S3x16
iZombie - S5
Krypton - S2
Last Chance U - S1, S2, S3, S4
Legion - S2, S3
Lethal Weapon - S3x10 - S3x15
Lucifer - S4
Luther - S1x05 - S1x06, S2, S3, S4, S5
MacGyver - S3x11 - S3x22
Magnum P.I. - S1x11 - S2x11
The Mandalorian - S1x01 - S1x07
Manifest - S1x10 - S1x16
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D - S6
Marvel's Cloak & Dagger - S2
Marvel's Jessica Jones - S3
Marvel's The Punisher - S2
Marvel's The Runaways - S2
Mayans M.C. - S1x06 - S2x10
NCIS - S16x11 - S17x10
NCIS: New Orleans - S5x11 - S6x10
New Amsterdam - S1, S2x01 S2x09
New Girl - S4x21 - S4x22, S5, S6, S7
Nikita - S3x07 - S3x22, S4
The Orville - S2
Person of Interest (Rewatch) - S1x01 - S1x14
Preacher - S3 - S4
Prodigal Son - S1x01 - S1x10
The Ranch - S4x01 - S4x10
Rick & Morty - S4x01 - S4x04
Ridiculousness - S12x25 - S12x43, S13, S14, S15x01 - S15x37
Riverdale - S3, S4x01 - S4x09
The Rookie - S1x09 - S2x10
Seal Team - S2x11 - S3x10
Star Wars Resistance - S1x11 - S2x13
Stranger Things - S3
Stumptown - S1x01 - S1x09
Suits - S2, S3, S4x01 - S4x03
Supergirl - S4x10 - S5x09
Supernatural - S14x10 - S14x20
S.W.A.T. - S2x11 - S3x10
Teen Titans - S2
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - S2
Treadstone - S1
The Umbrella Academy - S1
Watchmen - S1
Whiskey Cavalier - S1
Yellowstone - S2
Young Justice - S3

All animated shows based on characters from DC Comics.