Home Features DC Elseworlds: DC Animated Projects We Want to See Receive the Live-Action Treatment

These are some of the DC animated projects we’d like to see turned into live-action Elseworlds movies.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

DC Elseworlds is the label James Gunn assigned to all DC Studios projects that exist outside his new DC Universe. Aside from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Superman, and Teen Titans Go!, there are a lot of possibilities for what could happen in this parallel universe. Our favorite heroes have a lot of storylines that never get explored in the main franchise. But a lot of them are in fact, produced as one-shots in DC’s long list of animated movies. Though they aren’t very popular, a lot of fans would pay good money to see these stories reproduced as live-action adventures.

James Gunn’s Elseworlds provides creators with the opportunity to tell any number of these stories. The DCU could expand infinitely without being restrained by a single narrative. Though we do love to see some comic book narratives adapted to fit these larger stories, sometimes the alternate version is just too strange or breaks too hard from the story the franchise is trying to tell. In this new Elseworlds label, there are a lot of stories we’ve seen made into DC animations that are more than worthy of their own live-action adaptations. Here are a few DC animated projects we think should be made into big Elseworlds projects.
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Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Warner Bros. Animation

Gotham by Gaslight was DC Comics’ very first comic with the Elseworlds label on it. Though it was made before the imprint was created, DC retconned the series to be first under their new label. Warner Bros. released the comic book run as an animated feature in 2018, and it did quite well, scoring 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s been a fan favorite and a comic book classic since it came out. Instead of seeing a familiar Batman, we take Bruce Wayne back to the Victorian era.

Related: Every DC Elseworlds Project Confirmed at Warner Bros., Explained

Gotham by Gaslight takes a look at the World’s Greatest Detective as he hunts down Jack the Ripper. In this world, Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed by a reckless highwayman. As Bruce was swarmed by bats over their dying bodies, he vowed to levy his justice on Gotham City. We get to see all of our familiar villains dressed up in old-timey gear. Batman’s utility belt is loaded with steampunk gadgets. Fans love this incarnation of The Dark Knight. You would have to introduce some type of timey-wimey hijinks in the regular DC story to shoehorn this story in. But in DC’s Elseworlds, no excuses are needed to produce a live-action version of Gotham by Gaslight.

Harley Quinn

DC Studios

The Harley Quinn animated series has been one of the most popular shows that DC has produced in the last several years. She has always been a popular character since her creation in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Since then, she has spawned innumerable comic books and made her way to being a warm and hilarious addition to Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Now she stands as one of DC’s staples and a champion of LGBTQ comics.

Related: The New DC Universe: Breaking Down the First Ten Projects

The Harley Quinn show is the first series that centers on its title character. While she’s a favorite among Batman fans, she hasn’t really gotten her time in the spotlight. Birds of Prey was more of an ensemble movie, and Suicide Squad created a lot of fan service by separating her storyline from the other characters almost immediately. But we haven’t seen a real Harley Quinn storyline. Perhaps if someone were to adapt part of the animated series, or simply give her, her own movie, we might be satisfied. But until then, we’ll have to work with her appearance in Joker: Folie a Deux.

Injustice

DC Studios

Injustice was a popular comic book run inspired by the video game of the same name. In a Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter-type game, the title explores what the DC Universe would be like if the Joker were to target Superman. Fans loved the premise, so much so that they made a movie in 2021. The comics sold through the roof. And since then fans have been asking for a bigger project in the DCU. If this were made into a live-action movie it would certainly be popular, but the narrative and the comic book run lend themselves better to a miniseries on HBO Max.

Injustice takes place in a universe in which the lines between heroes and villains have been blurred. The Joker has finally found his mark and driven Superman insane. In a devilish turn, the Joker tricked Superman into killing his love, Lois Lane. As a result, the Man of Steel lept over the edge and finally conquered Earth. Batman tried to prevent the catastrophe, but he has been forced to hide from this terrible ruler. Now he has aligned himself with Lex Luthor in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. It’s a terrifying story and a rare moment when we see what would happen if the strongest man in the universe decided to turn evil.