DC Entertainment has been working on its own streaming service – separate from the DC content on Netflix, the DC content on the CW, and anywhere else – for a while now. Aside from a few shows in the works, such as a live-action Titans show, details have been scarce. Now the company has unveiled a few major details.
The biggest surprise, perhaps, is that this isn’t just a streaming service. In addition to movies and shows, you’ll be able to check out a collection of digital comic books, a storefront with exclusive merchandise, and a DC Comics encyclopedia.
DC chief creative officer Jim Lee described it in the release as “a welcoming place for everyone to immerse themselves in their own level of DC fandom, with the epic characters, stories an experiences they have come to expect from DC.”
In addition to original live-action content like Titans, Doom Patrol, and Swamp Thing and the animated Young Justice: Outsiders and Harley Quinn shows, there will be a bunch of content from the company’s far-reaching back catalog.
You’ll be able to find stuff like the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, the Lois and Clark show from the 90s, Batman: The Animated Series, the classic Superfriends, and a bunch of the company’s straight-to-video animated features. On the comics side of things, you’ll have what DC is calling “a curated selection of thousands of DC comics,” from first appearances decades ago to recent relaunches.
There will also be forums, news reports, and rewards.
The service is scheduled to roll out in beta mode in August (register here) with a full roll-out sometime later this year. You’ll be able to catch the service on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, TV and Android TV in addition to web-based access. No word yet on versions for Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
The one thing missing from all of this is the price. This is actually a pretty good package deal as it stands. You’re getting shows, comics, movies, rewards, and exclusive access of various kinds. But DC has struggled to keep itself in the zeitgeist in recent years, and they’ll need to find the right price point to get people curious. We’re looking forward to seeing what the platform has to offer, though. Any streaming service with Batman: The Animated Series can’t be all bad.
