First story arc: "New 52" (2013–2020) The franchise was initially loosely based on a set of storylines from the
New 52, DC Comics' 2011 reboot of its monthly comics' continuity. Following a teaser in the franchise's first film
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, a five-film story arc loosely based on the "
Darkseid War" storyline written by
Geoff Johns, started from
Justice League: War and was later revisited in
The Death of Superman,
Reign of the Supermen and concluded in
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. After the first story arc ended, screenwriter Ernie Altbacker teased the possibility of a new project related to that continuity. He said that "the way we ended it... it's really like a tough balancing act: It ends something on a bittersweet yet hopeful note, and I'll just say, people who are saying, 'Oh man, we're not going to get anymore of these!' ...you're not losing something, you're gaining something new..." The DC Showcase short film
Constantine: The House of Mystery was released in May 2022 and is a narrative sequel to
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.
Second story arc: "Tomorrowverse" (2020–2024) Pre-production of the DCAMU's second story arc began in 2018 when Butch Lukic and Jim Krieg decided to plan out a ten-film story arc that would be set after the events of
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, which ends the first story arc with a universal reset. The arc itself originally was not planned to have the "
Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline as a major plot point, but these plans were eventually changed once executives from
Warner Bros. Animation asked for it to serve as the finale. Lukic and Krieg were also unaware of the
Arrowverse's plans for
their own adaptation at the time and only found out when Eric Carrasco contacted them, since he served as a writer for
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five and knew them personally. The franchise's second story arc has the art style and storyline being carried over to further films that were set in the same continuity. It gained the nickname of "Tomorrowverse" after the release of
Superman: Man of Tomorrow.
Constantine: The House of Mystery continues certain story elements and helps set up the
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths plot, which was later confirmed to be a three-part storyline and serves as the overall conclusion to the DCAMU, with all the remaining films being released in 2024. == Films ==