The DC animated film universe has been around for a while and it managed to produce multiple great films. Some of them focused on individual heroes, others brought superhero teams forward. The universe has a lot of strong moments and it draws inspiration from some of the best DC comic books ever written.
As such, it manages to combine action, drama, humor, romance, simply everything fans could ask for. Many people believe that DCEU and its live-action movies could learn a lot from the DCAMU and improve its quality. Let's take a look at 10 things the live-action movies can learn from the animated cinematic universe.
10 Drawing Inspiration From The Comics
One of the things that the DCAU does so well is that it takes well-known superhero comic book storylines and transforms them into animated films - unlike the DCEU which is less inspired by the comics and is trying to build-up a continuity instead.
The DCAU has used many most epic and legendary comics for their films, such as Frank Miller's Batman: Year One about Batman's beginnings or Mike Mignola's and Brian Augustyn's Elseworld classic Gotham by Gaslight.
9 Various Versions Of The Same Characters
To be fair to the DCEU, it'd be hard to build continuity between its multiple films and introduce alternate versions of its heroes at the same time. That said, Elseworlds stories in the DCAU are often the most interesting ones since they allow the fans the opportunity to see a different face of their favorite characters which is always fun to watch.
There's been the already mentioned Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018) or this year's Superman: Red Son that shows what would happen if Superman's ship landed in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas.
8 Heroes Die
Sometimes when heroes die, they don't come back. Or at least it takes them a long time. The DCEU has killed Superman in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), true, but it was immediately hinted that Superman isn't actually dead and would be back in the following Justice League film in 2017.
The DCAU, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to make Superman's death look seemingly much more permanent when Doomsday killed him in the 2007 Superman: Doomsday movie.
7 Larger Variety Of Heroes
Many fans weren't all that excited about the way the DCEU has handled introducing other heroes. Unlike the MCU, which took its time building up individual heroes before it brought them together in the Avengers (2012), the DCEU barely gave any space to Cyborg, Aquaman, and Flash, before they all teamed up to take down Steppenwolf.
The DCAU, on the other hand, focuses on a rich variety of characters and it's not afraid to bring forward characters that are popular in the comics but hasn't made their mark in live-action movies just yet (such as Starfire and the superhero team Teen Titans).
6 More Villains
Following in a similar trend, the DCAU not only gives more space to various heroes than the DCEU, but it also includes iconic villains that haven't appeared in the DCEU yet and in some cases, it's doubtful whether they ever will, or at least anytime soon.
These villains are often far more fleshed-out and realistic than the DCEU versions which not always have enough space in the films (such as Steppenwolf). The DCAU has introduced the Reverse-Flash, for example, to name just one, and also gave the world a much better version of Doomsday than Batman v Superman.
5 Heroes And Villains Team Up
The world is not black-and-white and the DCAU reflects that better than the DCEU. At least when it comes to the fact that sometimes even heroes and villains have to team up to save the day.
Yes, Birds of Prey (2020) did bring together villains and heroes, but that was the only exception in the DCEU, and the film was primarily focused on Harley Quinn anyway and didn't leave enough space for the team-building. The DCAU, on the other hand, had Nightwing and Batman join forces with Harley, or saw Batman fighting alongside his former protegé Jason Todd aka Red Hood.
4 Superman's And Batman's Bromance
It's easy to forget in the face of Batman v. Superman but Batman and Superman are great friends in the comics and in the DCAU as well (Superman: Red Son aside). They don't always agree with one another and they have very different opinions and characters but they're still there for each other whenever needed.
That's the kind of friendship that the DCEU hasn't shown at all, and considering how iconic the bromance between these two characters is, it was sorely missed in their shared adventures in the live-action movies.
3 Wonder Woman And Batman
It's doubtful whether the fans get to see more of Wonder Woman and Batman together in the DCEU, even though these two had great chemistry together, back when Batman was still played by Ben Affleck.
The DCAU had brought Wonder Woman and Batman much closer and their interactions are one of the best, right there at the top alongside Batman and Superman's friendship. The DCAU Wonder Woman is interested in Batman but even though their relationship doesn't work out, the chemistry is still there and they remain good friends and allies.
2 Wonder Woman And Superman
Another alternate relationship that never made it into the DCEU is the romance between Wonder Woman and Superman. Granted, yes, they didn't last long together and soon broke up both in the comics and in the DCAU as well, but their relationship was still influential and would deserve to be reflected on the big screen.
Considering how close friends Diana and Clark are, it's a shame that the live-action Justice League barely had them interacting together.
1 Sense Of Humor
Let's leave all the relationship matters aside and close this list with the mention of the sense of humor. That's something the DCAU offers in a much larger portion than the DCEU, even though the live-action movies can also be pretty funny.
The DCAU, however, has a larger number of characters to play with, and their mutual interactions, quips, and jokes are one of the main reasons why the DCAU films are not only so popular among fans but simply funny to watch.