Live-action DC films span more than four decades and several different approaches to the same characters. This page lists fourteen of them in order of release, with year, director and lead actor as confirmed from Wikipedia. It does not rank them or give review scores, because those numbers change over time and differ by site. Where a film has a notable recorded award or Razzie result, we mention it.
Early films
Superman (1978). Directed by Richard Donner, with Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Superman, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Marlon Brando as Jor-El.
Catwoman (2004). Directed by Pitof, with Halle Berry as Patience Phillips. It won four Razzie Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actress and Worst Screenplay.
Related Reading
Batman and the Joker
The Dark Knight (2008). Directed by Christopher Nolan, with Christian Bale as Batman, Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Joker (2019). Directed by Todd Phillips, with Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck. It won two Oscars from eleven nominations: Best Actor and Best Original Score.
The Batman (2022). Directed by Matt Reeves, with Robert Pattinson as Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle and Paul Dano as the Riddler.
The DC Extended Universe
Man of Steel (2013). Directed by Zack Snyder, with Henry Cavill as Superman.
Suicide Squad (2016). Directed by David Ayer, with a cast that includes Will Smith and Margot Robbie.
Wonder Woman (2017). Directed by Patty Jenkins, with Gal Gadot as Diana Prince.
Justice League (2017). Credited to Zack Snyder as director; Joss Whedon handled post-production after Snyder stepped down. Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot return in the cast.
Aquaman (2018). Directed by James Wan, with Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry.
Shazam! (2019). Directed by David F. Sandberg, with Zachary Levi as Shazam.
Birds of Prey (2020). Directed by Cathy Yan, with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.
Black Adam (2022). Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, with Dwayne Johnson in the title role.
The newest Superman
Superman (2025). Written and directed by James Gunn, with David Corenswet as Clark Kent and Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. It opened in the United States on July 11, 2025.
A note on the list
This is a selection. DC has released other live-action films, including Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), which appear in the Wikipedia list linked below but are not described here. Pick by tone: Superman (1978) and the 2025 film for a hopeful hero, The Dark Knight, Joker and The Batman for darker crime stories, and Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam! for adventure.
