DC Movie Trivia
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This DC movie trivia quiz has 60 free questions with answers and spans nearly fifty years of DC Comics on the big screen: Richard Donner's Superman and its sequels, Adam West's 1966 Batman and his shark repellent, Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's Batman films, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, the DC Extended Universe from Man of Steel through Aquaman and the Snyder Cut, Todd Phillips' Joker films, Matt Reeves' The Batman, and James Gunn's 2025 Superman that launched the new DCU. It also covers the misfires — Catwoman, Green Lantern, Batman & Robin — plus animated and one-off entries like Mask of the Phantasm, Watchmen and V for Vendetta. Early questions suit anyone who has seen a few of the films; later ones reward fans who know which DCEU film won an Oscar, who replaced Julie Newmar in 1966, and how the Snyder Cut got finished. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who played Superman in Richard Donner's 1978 film?
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve, a little-known stage actor, was cast as Superman in Richard Donner's 1978 film; Marlon Brando (Jor-El) and Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) received top billing above him.
Q 02Which novelist was credited with the story of Superman (1978)?
Mario Puzo
Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, wrote the story and first-draft screenplay for Superman (1978); David Newman, Leslie Newman and Robert Benton reworked his script.
Q 03Which Kryptonian general, played by Terence Stamp, escapes the Phantom Zone in Superman II?
Zod
Zod, the Kryptonian general played by Terence Stamp, escapes the Phantom Zone in Superman II with his followers Ursa and Non and demands that the US President kneel before him.
Q 04Which comedian co-starred in Superman III as computer programmer Gus Gorman?
Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor plays Gus Gorman in Superman III (1983); Gorman substitutes tar for an unknown element when synthesising kryptonite, which turns Superman bad rather than killing him.
Q 05Who played the title role in the 1984 film Supergirl?
Helen Slater
Helen Slater was a 19-year-old newcomer when she played Kara Zor-El in Supergirl (1984); three decades later she returned as the heroine's adoptive mother in the 2015 TV series.
Q 06In the 1966 Batman film, which actress replaced Julie Newmar as the feline villainess?
Lee Meriwether
Lee Meriwether played the feline villainess in the 1966 Batman feature because Julie Newmar was unavailable; Eartha Kitt later took the role in the TV series' third season.
Q 07Which director cast a comedy actor as the lead in the 1989 Batman, prompting an outcry from comic-book fans?
Tim Burton
Tim Burton, then known for Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, gave the lead to his Beetlejuice star; fans feared a campy film in the style of the 1960s TV series.
Q 08Which pop star wrote songs for the 1989 Batman film?
Prince
Prince wrote and performed the Batman (1989) soundtrack album; its single 'Batdance', built around dialogue sampled from the film, topped the US chart, while Danny Elfman composed the orchestral score.
Q 09In Batman Returns, who plays the Penguin, raised in the sewers by a colony of birds?
Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito played Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, in Batman Returns (1992); his bird army mixed real penguins with thirty Stan Winston puppets, performers in penguin suits and computer animation.
Q 10Who took over the cowl in Batman Forever?
Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer took over as Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995); he said yes while travelling in Africa, without reading the script or knowing who would direct.
Q 11Which action star played Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger played Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (1997), billed above George Clooney's Batman; no live-action Batman film followed for eight years, until Batman Begins in 2005.
Q 12Which Batman: The Animated Series film is the only DC Animated Universe film given a full cinema release?
Mask of the Phantasm
Mask of the Phantasm (1993) was planned as a direct-to-video release before Warner Bros. sent it to cinemas; Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprised Batman and the Joker.
Q 13Who plays Ra's al Ghul, the League of Shadows leader, in Batman Begins?
Liam Neeson
Q 21Which is the only DCEU film to have won an Academy Award?
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad (2016) won Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 2017 Academy Awards despite mostly negative reviews; no other DC Extended Universe film won an Oscar.
Q 22Who directed Wonder Woman (2017)?
Patty Jenkins
Patty Jenkins, director of Monster (2003), took over Wonder Woman after Michelle MacLaren left the project over creative differences in 2015.
Q 23In Wonder Woman, Diana leaves her home island after a spy tells her about which war?
World War I
World War I is the conflict Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, describes after crash-landing off Themyscira; Diana leaves believing Ares is behind the war.
Liam Neeson plays Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005), introduced under the alias Henri Ducard; the man first presented to Bruce as Ra's turns out to be a decoy.
Q 14Which villain does Cillian Murphy play in Batman Begins?
Scarecrow
Cillian Murphy plays Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, in Batman Begins (2005); he had screen-tested for Batman himself and returned as Crane in cameos in both sequels.
Q 15The Dark Knight was the first major motion picture to shoot sequences with which format?
IMAX cameras
IMAX cameras, until then used mainly for documentaries, were Christopher Nolan's choice for The Dark Knight's biggest sequences; blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible and Star Wars later followed suit.
Q 16Heath Ledger's Joker earned him a posthumous Academy Award in which category?
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actor went to Heath Ledger at the 2009 Academy Awards, 13 months after his death; his parents and sister accepted it on behalf of his three-year-old daughter.
Q 17Which villain, played by Tom Hardy, threatens Gotham with nuclear destruction in the last film of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy?
Bane
Bane, played by Tom Hardy, holds Gotham hostage with a neutron bomb in the 2012 trilogy finale; Nolan drew on the 1993 'Knightfall' comics, in which Bane breaks Batman's back.
Q 18Which film launched the DC Extended Universe in 2013?
Man of Steel
Man of Steel grew out of a brainstorm for a Batman sequel, when writer David S. Goyer pitched Christopher Nolan a modern take on Superman; Zack Snyder was then hired to direct.
Q 19Who plays Superman in Zack Snyder's 2013 film?
Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill plays Clark Kent in the 2013 film as a wanderer hiding his powers, until an invasion by survivors of his home planet forces him to reveal himself.
Q 20What shared name stops Batman from killing Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
Martha
Martha is the first name of both heroes' mothers, Martha Wayne and Martha Kent; when Superman begs him to 'save Martha', Batman hesitates and the fight ends.
Q 24Which director took over Justice League (2017) in post-production after Zack Snyder stepped down?
Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon oversaw post-production and reshoots after Snyder left in May 2017 following his daughter's death; Snyder still kept the sole directing credit.
Q 25On which streaming service was Zack Snyder's Justice League released in March 2021?
HBO Max
HBO Max released the four-hour cut after fans campaigned for years under the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, and Warner Bros. spent about $70 million finishing it.
Q 26Which horror director made Aquaman (2018)?
James Wan
James Wan, the director of Saw and The Conjuring, made Aquaman (2018) and cast his Conjuring lead Patrick Wilson as the villain Orm, Arthur Curry's half-brother.
Q 27Which film did Aquaman (2018) overtake as the highest-grossing movie based on a DC character?
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises had held the record since 2012; Aquaman passed it with roughly $1.15 billion, helped by Warner Bros.' biggest opening yet in China, two weeks before its US release.
Q 28In Shazam!, which actor plays the adult superhero form of 14-year-old Billy Batson?
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi plays the adult champion in Shazam! (2019), with Asher Angel as teenage Billy; Levi had first auditioned for a smaller part, the grown-up form of Billy's foster brother Freddy.
Q 29Which award did Joker (2019) win at the Venice Film Festival?
The Golden Lion
The Golden Lion, Venice's top prize, went to Joker in 2019, days after its premiere there drew an eight-minute standing ovation.
Q 30Joker (2019) was the first film with which US rating to gross over $1 billion worldwide?
R
Joker's R rating did not stop it passing $1 billion worldwide in 2019, the first R-rated film to do so; it stayed the top-grossing R-rated film until Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024.