HBO Max boasts a good amount of DC-based movies and TV shows among its line-up, but it by no means includes all of them, and here's what's missing. The streaming wars are in full swing in 2020, with new and recently launched services quickly crowding the marketplace. According to surveys, many consumers felt that Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu was already too many major streaming services to have available, and for them 2020 has likely been quite irksome from an entertainment standpoint.

In late 2019, corporate monolith Disney launched Disney+, combining most of their pop culture properties under one umbrella, including Disney animation, Marvel Studios' MCU, Star Wars, former Fox holdings like The Simpsons, and more. Now, fellow mega-corporation Warner Media is launching HBO Max, which features content from DC, Warner Bros. movies, Warner Bros. TV shows, everything on HBO, and lots of other Turned-owned content. As if that wasn't enough, not too long from now, NBC Universal will launch Peacock, featuring Universal-owned movies and TV shows, current NBC programs, and past NBC hits like The Office and Cheers, plus content from NBC News. It's enough to make one's head spin.

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HBO Max is the next player into this soon to be quite crowded subscription streaming arena, and there's big pressue on it to live up to the success of Disney+. To Warner Media's credit, the HBO Max launch line-up is fairly strong, including some top DC Comics-based movies and TV shows. Unfortunately a lot's missing too.

HBO Max's Missing DC Movies

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  • Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
  • Batman (1966)
  • Superman (1978)
  • Superman 2 (1980)
  • Swamp Thing (1982)
  • Superman 3 (1983)
  • Superman 4 (1987)
  • The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)
  • Batman Begins (2005)
  • Constantine (2005)
  • Superman Returns (2006)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • Watchmen (2009)
  • The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
  • Man of Steel (2013)
  • Birds of Prey (2020)
  • Dozens of DC Animated Movies, Including Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

The first DC film to be missing from HBO Max is in fact the oldest, Superman and the Mole Men, which served as a sort of pilot for the classic Adventures of Superman TV series starring George Reeves. Also missing is the first Batman movie, 1966's movie expansion of the classic TV series starring Adam West. A surprising omission from the launch line-up is the entire four-film Superman franchise starring Christopher Reeve, as well as its 2006 sequel Superman Returns. This is despite HBO Max press releases boasting of every Batman and Superman film from the past 40 years being included on launch day. Another missing movie is Swamp Thing, Wes Craven's 1982 adaptation of the scientist turned monster, and its 1989 sequel The Return of Swamp Thing.

Another omission running contrary to HBO Max's prior press statements is Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. 2005's Constantine movie starring Keanu Reeves is also nowhere to be found. Surprisingly, also missing is 2009's Watchmen movie, although the HBO Watchmen TV series is present. Another massive title not yet included on HBO Max is 2013's Man of Steel, which again, clashes with prior press releases promising every DC movie from the last 10 years at launch. Finally, recent DC feature Birds of Prey isn't scheduled for HBO Max at launch, but will presumably join the service once it's not quite so new. That said, the amount of previously advertised movies that aren't actually available to watch on launch day is quite regrettable, and needs to be rectified soon.

HBO Max's Missing DC TV Shows

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  • Adventures of Superman (1952-58)
  • Batman (1966-68)
  • Shazam! (1974-76)
  • The Secrets of Isis (1975-76)
  • Wonder Woman (1975-79)
  • Superboy (1988-92)
  • Swamp Thing (1990-93)
  • The Flash (1990-91)
  • Human Target (1992)
  • Lois & Clark (1993-97)
  • Smallville (2001-11)
  • Birds of Prey (2002-03)
  • Human Target (2010-11)
  • Arrow (2012-20)
  • Gotham (2004-19)
  • Constantine (2014-15)
  • The Flash (2014-???)
  • Supergirl (2015-???)
  • Legends of Tomorrow (2016-???)
  • Powerless (2017)
  • Krypton (2018-19)
  • Black Lightning (2018-???)
  • Swamp Thing (2019)
  • Pennyworth (2019-???)
  • Stargirl (2020-???)
  • Dozens of DC Animated Shows, Including Batman: The Animated Series

Fans will quickly notice that the DC TV offerings on HBO Max are much less plentiful than the movie options, likely because many of the missing titles are still over on DC Universe. The biggest hole is the entire collection of Arrowverse series, save for Batwoman, as all the ones produced before 2019 are still under deals with Netflix. Beyond that though, the number of DC-based series on HBO Max numbers in the single digits. It's much easier to talk about what they do have, that being Watchmen, Batwoman, Titans, and Doom Patrol, than what they don't, that currently being everything else.

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