DC Universe Streaming Service Pivots From Video

RIP to a real one: DC Universe, the highly underrated streaming service focusing on DC Comics’ TV shows, movies, comics, games and more will officially pivot from video on January 21, 2021. The newly rebranded DC Universe Infinite will focus only on comic book content, while the DC Universe originals like Doom Patrol, Titans, Young Justice and the officially renewed for Season 3 Harley Quinn will migrate to the Warner Bros. owned HBO Max streaming service. Select legacy TV and movie content will also move to HBO Max.

First announced in 2017, DC Universe officially launched in September 2018 with a lot of promise. The goal was to create a home for DC’s extensive roster of superheroes and related properties, along with community aspects, daily news shows, and more. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite catch on, despite including an impressively vast library of comics serving as source material, side by side with the movies and shows they inspired; and a library of classics like Christopher Reeves’ Superman movies, and Batman: The Animated Series. Though DC Universe never provided audience figures, it was clear that aiming for a niche community meant the service was getting lost in the increasingly crowded space of streamers. Once Warner Bros. announced that their at-the-time upcoming service HBO Max would also feature DC TV shows, the writing was on the wall.

Now we know exactly what to expect. As the video content migrates (mostly) to HBO Max, the renamed DC Universe Infinite will become a comics library and community hub — essentially DC Universe, without the video. That includes 24,000 comics, unlimited offline reading, and “member access to DC fan events,” according to a press release provided to Decider. The window for comic releases will also shorten from one year, to six months after release in stores. DC will also be expanding the roster of comics available, including their well-liked digital only books, and unspecified at the current time “DC Universe Infinite Originals.”

As for the TV and movie content, no timetable has been announced, but Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn are both streaming their first two seasons on HBO Max, and the third seasons will head directly to that service. Titans is not currently streaming on HBO Max, but all three seasons including the previously greenlit third season will be heading to the streamer, as will four seasons of Young Justice. DC’s Stargirl will also stream its first season on HBO Max. However, as the series is now exclusive to The CW, that most likely falls under their existing deal where Warner Bros. newer shows (like Batwoman) head directly to HBO Max, while older shows (like Arrow and The Flash) will continue on Netflix until the time those deals expire and are renegotiated.

As for the other content on DC Universe, which includes older series not streaming “free” elsewhere like Batman: The Animated Series, Constantine, or Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, those should still be available on DC Universe until it switches over. After that, “key DC classics” will be added to HBO Max on a rolling basis, meaning not everything available now will be making the transition. So time to watch those episodes of Birds of Prey and Human Target while you still can.

“Our fans love the platform’s robust library of comic books and, with the transformation, we will not disappoint,” said DC Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee via release. “I’m excited to share that not only will DC Universe Infinite members still be able to read all of the great comics that they’ve enjoyed but new issues are debuting on the platform quicker than before, digital first exclusives are being created, and the members-only events will begin as soon as possible. There has never been a better time to be a DC fan!”

There has also potentially never been a more confusing time to be a DC Universe subscriber, so a few points of order and clarification here. If you currently subscribe to DC Universe, you will be able to migrate your subscription to DC Universe Infinite on an opt-in basis. You’ll be able to use your same user name and password, and the “new” app will save your reading history. This will be available starting in October, as an early sign-up.

The price also isn’t changing… DC Universe/Infinite will remain $7.99 a month, and will reintroduce the $74.99 a year price that was eliminated earlier this year, leading to concerns from fans that the service’s days were numbered. Also continuing will be the bundle deal with HBO Max introduced in June: current members of DC Universe will be able to add HBO Max for $4.99 a month, through October 30. As a note, for that deal to work you need an existing DC Universe subscription, and no HBO Max subscription. There’s also a pre-order offer: once the service rolls over, on February 1 monthly members will get a $10 voucher in the DC Shop, while yearly members will get $25.

Compare that to Marvel’s Unlimited service, which currently has 27,000 comics to read on demand, versus DC Universe’s 24,000, and costs more monthly ($9.99) and less yearly ($69, a nice price if I ever heard one). It also has a “Plus” tier for $99 which includes a pink Deadpool action figure, some other swag, and “access to Marvel events.” Point being, even with the disparities the two services are pretty comparable, and arguably something that comic book readers have been saying DC Universe should have focused on since the beginning. The platform has a good comic book reader, with a great depth of content, yet most of the focus in press and fan chat was focused on the seemingly underperforming series. I’m caveating the language because, again, DC Universe hasn’t released numbers of subscribers. But versus launching an overperforming comic reader, they took the usual DC approach of swinging big; and in this case, missing the mark.

Like I said at the beginning, DC Universe was a good idea, and a good service. Being able to watch, say, Titans, and then check out relevant issues of “New Teen Titans” right there is the sort of barrier comic book readers have been begging to overcome for decades now, particularly as the fanbase for superhero media has grown; but the readership has not at the same pace. That’s certainly something to lament as the TV/movies head over to the moderately more successful HBO Max (which is having its own issues, mind you). Once again, the comics and shows are separate. That’s good news for the shows, which will no longer be siloed on DC Universe. It’s also good news for comic book fans, who have a more focused, dedicated platform. But it is a bummer for the end of a bold experiment that clearly did not work as intended.

DC Universe Infinite launches in January, and will be available on DCUniverseInfinite.com, iOS and Android devices, and begin to roll out globally next Summer. It just won’t have any of the TV shows or movies when it does.