– A fun, Supergirl-focused college-adventure that balanced teen drama with cosmic stakes.
The watershed moment arrived in 2005. With live-action Batman Begins rebooting the franchise, Warner Bros. Animation took a different path: . It was fun, but the real game-changer came later that year with the release of Batman: The Animated Series – The Complete Series on DVD. The bonus disc included a preview of something new: Justice League: The New Frontier (2008) was still on the horizon, but first, 2006 brought Superman: Brainiac Attacks (a tie-in to Superman: TAS but non-canonical).
However, the Tomorrowverse has suffered from . Warner Bros. Discovery’s merger led to layoffs, shifting priorities, and a haphazard release schedule. Many films were dumped to streaming with little fanfare. The ambition of the DCAMU’s interconnectedness was replaced by a looser, more standalone approach.
– A controversial but interesting take, introducing John Stewart as a PTSD-afflicted soldier, loosely adapting "Emerald Twilight."
The true rebirth, however, was 2007’s . Produced by Bruce Timm and directed by Lauren Montgomery and Brandon Vietti, it was the first of the "PG-13 DC Universe Original Movies." It showed Superman dying in a brutal, bloody fistfight. The tone was set: these are not for children. Part II: The Golden Age – The "Timm-Vietti-Montgomery" Years (2007–2013) This period is widely considered the high watermark. After Doomsday came a rapid-fire succession of classics.