On May 5th 2020, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War arrives on digital platforms. The movie is being described as the culmination of an epic animated journey, which incorporates multiple films, including those featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League.

All of the films within this universe are inspired by DC Comics’ New 52 era of stories. Not every film is directly linked, but they are all part of the same series.

In this post I am presenting the best viewing order to watch the films that lead up to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. Below you will find a list of every film you should watch, including additional suggestions to enhance the experience.

The road to Apokolips War tentatively begins in 2013 with the film, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. In this film, Barry Allen (aka the Flash), wakes up in an alternate reality and he must work out a way to reset the universe.

While Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is largely a Flash-orientated picture, and not necessarily key to Apokolips War, the post-credit scene introduces Parademons, which in turn teases the arrival of Darkseid – the chief villain of Apokolips War. I would suggest watching this film as a primer to what is to come.

From this point on, the series runs through Justice League: War (2014), Son of Batman (2014), Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015), Batman vs. Robin (2015), Batman: Bad Blood (2016), Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Justice League Dark (2017), Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017) and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018). Not all of the films are connected, but they are all part of the same universe.

The next film is Constantine: City of Demons – an entry which I have included, but others might overlook. Constantine: City of Demons was created as a spin-off of Justice League Dark and is therefore part of the same universe as all of the other entries on this list.

The reason it might get overlooked is because Constantine: City of Demons originated as a webseries, not as a movie, and was initially released on The CW’s online streaming platform, CW Seed. However, it was later released as a movie on DVD/Blu-ray and can be slotted into this universe.

Following on from Constantine: City of Demons, the story continues with The Death of Superman (2018), Reign of the Supermen (2019), Batman: Hush (2019) and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019). Once you have reached this stage, you are now ready to watch Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020).

Here is the best order to watch the Apokolips War films:

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
Justice League: War (2014)
Son of Batman (2014)
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)
Batman vs. Robin (2015)
Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)
Justice League Dark (2017)
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
Constantine: City of Demons (2018)
The Death of Superman (2018)
Reign of the Supermen (2019)
Batman: Hush (2019)
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019)
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

I hope this guide to DC’s Apokolips War/New 52 series is useful. The above list should help you navigate your way through the films in order to reach Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.

Son of Batman

In 1987 DC published a story about Batman and Talia Al Ghul sleeping together for the first time. As a result, Talia got pregnant. In that story, Talia tells Batman that she has lost the baby after a battle. The story ends with a baby left on a doorstep.

The child not revisited until 2006, when Grant Morrison began writing BATMAN. He created Damian Wayne, a young, headstrong fighter who was as stubborn as his father.

"Son of Batman" adapts that story. It introduces Damien into the shared animated universe. Damien is a hotheaded young man who thinks highly of himself and his skills. He's brought to Batman's attention and Batman reluctantly takes the boy under his (bat) wing and trains him as the next Robin.

The movie takes a few liberties with the comic it adapted. For one, Deathstroke is the main villain of the film. Slade Wilson also has a slight origin reboot as well. And other than Dick Grayson, there is no mention of other Robins.

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis

He is a man without purpose, mourning the death of his dad. The only thing we know for sure about him is that he's very strong and very blond.

This is how we meet Arthur Curry, the future king of Atlantis. In the Sequel to WAR, we learn a little about Arthur and why he's oblivious to his destiny.

We also learn more about the team and some subplots begin to form. Most notably, the relationship between superman and wonder woman.

But for the most part, it’s an Aquaman movie and a lot of the details in throne of Atlantis mirror what we see in the live-action Aquaman movie.

The movie also continues to earn the PG-13 rating. There are beheadings, impalements, and more than one superhero use swear words at moments of great stress. It’s a fine film that gets across the tone that DC wanted with these films. Grown-up stories for a grown-up audience.

Batman and Robin

Batman and Robin continue to show the relationship between Damian and Bruce. It's still a tense one. Batman is doing all he can to control his son's assassin tendencies. Robin, despite himself, is doing all he can to prove to his father that he is a reliable sidekick.

The film also adapts the first Batman storyline of the New 52 era, The Court of Owls. The Court attacks Batman on two fronts. Directly, attacking him with undead warriors called Talons, and by the Talon leader trying to lure Robin away from his dad.

Batman: Bad Blood

The Dark Knight has always been considered a loner, a one-man army against crime. But the truth is, he's one the few characters in comics who has a legit family. From his father figure Alfred to his two sons, Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne. One adopted, one a biological son.

But he's never truly opened to the idea of being a part of a family. His trauma from the death of his parents doesn't allow him to accept that he's part of a family now. It's a theme that was once touched on in the hilarious Lego Batman movie, and it's a theme that's touched on in Batman: Bad Blood.


During a confrontation with a group of villains, led by a large man who seems to know a lot about Batman, the caped crusader goes missing. Dick attempts to step in as Batman and tries to find Bruce Wayne, and along the way, he meets Batwoman, a vigilante inspired by Batman who was there when Batman went missing.

The film is a mashup of different DC comics storylines. The Dick Grayson-Damian Wayne dynamic comes from the first 12 issues of Batman and Robin, written by Grant Morrison, while the file adapts the first six issues of the Batwoman series, written by Greg Rucka, for its Kathy Kane subplot.

The film has a strong anime influence and it shows up in the fight scenes. It's a great exploration into the pain that the Bat-family has endured and how together, they could overcome it.

Justice League Vs. Teen Titans

If you haven't figured out by now, Damian Wayne thinks very highly of himself. He's a lot like his father in that way.

And like Bruce, Damian didn't have much of childhood before he became Robin, so Dick Grayson thinks it's time to remedy that.

Justice League Vs. Teen Titans tells that story and introduces us to the DCAU version of the Teen Titans. Some of the characters, you would recognize, but there are changes. For one, Starfire is no longer a young equal member of the team. She's much older and is the team leader. And while the group, including Robin, is similar in makeup to the one we are all most familiar with, they get around the fact that Cyborg is a JL member by including Blue Beetle (the younger version) into the mix.

There is a lot of growth within Robin throughout the film and it's a diversion from the more serious themes of the previous films. Any film with Beast Boy in it must be funny, you know.

Justice League Dark

This film touches on the Magical portion of the DC universe, introducing the characters Zatanna, John Constantine, Swamp Thing, and Deadman. A lot of the stories that were written about these characters were published under the Vertigo imprint at DC comics (where the bulk of the publisher's "Mature Readers" comics were housed) and these were some of the more sophisticated, critically acclaimed stories printed at the company.

These characters had been touched by the comic gods. Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Pat Mills, and a host of other creators. These characters brought credibility to a medium that, at the time, some thought to be only kids' stuff.

It makes sense, then, that when these characters made their animated debut, it would be in a film that had an R rating. It's much more violent than the others, and the language a bit saltier, but it's not terribly obscene. For these characters to be honest with their comic book counterparts, some salty language had to be allowed.

The film presents a mystery in which average citizens are murdering those they believe are demons. The Justice League realizes that Magic is not their forte, so Batman reaches out to a friend in that realm, who then conjures up a team of sorcerers and dead men to solve the case and save the world.

Highly entertaining, very smartly written, and the animation, once again, is top-notch.

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