Netflix Is Removing an Entire Cinematic Universe From Its Library

Highlights

The DCEU movies are leaving Netflix on March 31, 2024 - fans have a limited time for a final marathon.
Not all DCEU movies received high praise, but Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, and Shazam! are worth watching.
James Gunn's upcoming reboot of the franchise, starting with Superman in July 2025, may offer new hope for DC fans.

It’s becoming an increasingly common practice in recent years for movies and TV shows to frequently rotate in and out of different streaming services – or even disappear entirely – much to the frustration of general audiences trying to track down their favorite movie or comfort show. After just a handful of months on the service, it’s been announced that a popular cinematic universe is set to be axed from Netflix in its entirety – and it’s a big one at that.

Although the DC Extended Universe – better known as the DCEU – has received a somewhat mixed reception overall, this news will likely come as a disappointment to die-hard fans, especially since it seems like the franchise had only just made its way to the streaming platform.

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The DCEU movies are leaving Netflix

Initially created in response to the massive success of the burgeoning MCU, the DCEU never quite gained the traction it needed to go toe-to-toe with its main competitor, ultimately struggling to find its footing. This is hopefully something that can be fixed with James Gunn’s upcoming reboot of the franchise, which is due to launch with Superman – formerly known as Superman: Legacy – in July 2025. Still, while the DCEU never quite came together as a cohesive universe in the way moviegoers had hoped, there’s no denying that some of the project’s individual entries were legitimately entertaining.

Which DCEU movies are worth watching?

Wonder Woman

Notable for being the first entry in the DCEU to receive a ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, boasting an impressive 93%, Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman remains one of the franchise’s most action-packed and heartfelt entries. The movie chronicles the origins and rise of its eponymous Amazonian warrior-princess, following Diana as she braves the outside world for the first time in an attempt to quell the horrifying bloodshed of World War I. Cleverly, Wonder Woman chooses to put much of its focus on the palpable chemistry between its two lead actors, grounding the movie’s darker themes and explosive spectacle in something meaningful – with hope, love and optimism balancing out the movie’s more melancholy moments. In Richard Brody's review of the film for the New Yorker, he stated:

Wonder Woman is a superhero movie, and it fulfills the heroic and mythic demands of that genre, but it's also an entry in the genre of wisdom literature that shares hard-won insights and long-pondered paradoxes of the past with a sincere intimacy.

The Suicide Squad

Following the overwhelmingly negative reception of 2016’s Suicide Squad, DC hired James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame to helm a part-sequel, part-reboot of the property, offering a life raft to the handful of Suicide Squad’s functional elements. The resulting movie – titled The Suicide Squad – stands out as one of the DCEU’s very best. By this point in his career, Gunn has proved he has a talent for taking bizarre, lesser-known characters and turning them into lovable, albeit flawed, heroes. In allowing Gunn to take stewardship of these characters, DC managed to create a Suicide Squad movie that’s able to live up to the grisly promise of its title, freeing the director from the family-friendly shackles of Marvel Studios. The film takes more narrative risks than perhaps any other DCEU movie, with no character feeling truly safe, making its stakes feel considerably higher than in typical superhero fare. Gruesome and hilarious in equal measure, The Suicide Squad is a must for fans of violent, over-the-top action flicks as well as witty, character-centric team-up movies in the vein of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Shazam!

Although it was directed by famed horror director David F. Sandberg, Shazam! strangely remains one of the breeziest, most light-hearted DCEU movies to date. Feeling like a breath of fresh air for the franchise – especially in the wake of po-faced entries like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Shazam! tells the story of Billy Batson; a troubled teenager who’s granted the powers of a god by a mysterious wizard. With his newfound powers, Billy is able to transform into an adult version of himself by shouting “Shazam!”, giving him near-invulnerability, super-strength, flight and electricity-based powers, eventually bringing him into conflict with the nefarious Dr Sivana and the Seven Deadly Sins. Reveling in the absurdity of its premise, the movie takes full advantage of Zachary Levi’s casting as the adult Billy – who still evidently has the mind of a teenager – painting a comical picture of what might happen if a group of kids suddenly discovered one of them has superpowers.

When are the DCEU movies leaving Netflix?

The entire DCEU is set to depart Netflix on March 31, 2024 – so fans of the series don’t have long to do one last marathon. The movies will remain on the Max streaming service, however, and will still be available to watch over there after leaving Netflix.