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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.
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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 received the story credit for 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 Supergirl in the 1984 spin-off film?
Helen Slater
Helen Slater made her film debut as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl (1984); Faye Dunaway played the villainous Selena and Marc McClure returned as Jimmy Olsen.
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's hiring for the 1989 Batman, alongside a comedic leading man, provoked an outcry from fans?
Tim Burton
Tim Burton, then known for Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, was hired to direct Batman (1989); fans sent Warner Bros. thousands of protest letters over him and his comedic star.
Q 08Which pop star wrote songs for the 1989 Batman film?
Prince
Prince wrote and performed the Batman (1989) soundtrack album, including the US number-one single 'Batdance', 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); the production used dozens of live penguins alongside animatronics and a little CGI.
Q 10Who took over the cowl in Batman Forever?
Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer took over as Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995), opposite Jim Carrey's Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones's Two-Face; Seal's 'Kiss from a Rose' came from its soundtrack.
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; the film's reception halted live-action Batman films until Batman Begins in 2005.
Q 12Which Batman: The Animated Series film is the only DC Animated Universe film released theatrically?
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 scathing reviews; no other DC Extended Universe film won an Oscar.
Q 22Who directed Wonder Woman (2017)?
Patty Jenkins
Patty Jenkins, whose earlier film Monster (2003) won Charlize Theron an Oscar, directed Wonder Woman (2017) after joining the project 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
The Dark Knight (2008) was the first major feature film shot partly with IMAX cameras; about 28 minutes of the finished film, including the opening bank heist, were captured in the format.
Q 16Heath Ledger's Joker earned him a posthumous Academy Award in which category?
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor at the 2009 Academy Awards for The Dark Knight, a year after his death; he was only the second posthumous acting winner, after Peter Finch.
Q 17Which villain, played by Tom Hardy, threatens Gotham with nuclear destruction in The Dark Knight Rises?
Bane
Bane, played by Tom Hardy, holds Gotham hostage with a neutron bomb in The Dark Knight Rises (2012); 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 (2013), directed by Zack Snyder from a David S. Goyer script developed with Christopher Nolan, was the first film in what became the DC Extended Universe.
Q 19Who plays Superman in Man of Steel?
Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill plays Clark Kent in the 2013 film; Michael Shannon plays the Kryptonian villain and Kevin Costner plays Clark's adoptive father Jonathan Kent.
Q 20What shared name stops Batman from killing Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
Martha
Martha is the name of both Martha Wayne and Martha Kent; Superman's plea to 'save Martha' halts Batman in Batman v Superman (2016), a moment widely mocked by fans and critics.
Q 24What happened to Zack Snyder during the production of Justice League (2017)?
He stepped down after the death of his daughter
Zack Snyder left Justice League in May 2017. He stepped down after the death of his daughter, and Joss Whedon handled reshoots and shared screenplay credit while Snyder kept the directing credit.
Q 25On which streaming service was Zack Snyder's Justice League released in March 2021?
HBO Max
About $70 million was spent to finish the effects, score and edit, with new material shot in October 2020.
Q 26Which horror director made Aquaman (2018)?
James Wan
James Wan, the director of Saw and The Conjuring, made Aquaman (2018), in which Arthur Curry battles his half-brother King Orm, played by Patrick Wilson.
Q 27Aquaman (2018) became the highest-grossing film based on a DC character with roughly what worldwide take?
$1.15 billion
Aquaman grossed about $1.15 billion worldwide, the fifth-biggest film of 2018 and more than any earlier film based on a DC character, including The Dark Knight Rises.
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 the teenage Billy Batson; the hero draws the wisdom of Solomon and the strength of Hercules.
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 under jury president Lucrecia Martel, a rare festival win for a comic-book film.
Q 30Joker (2019) was the first film with which rating to pass the ten-figure mark worldwide?
R
Joker's R rating did not stop it passing $1 billion worldwide in November 2019, the first R-rated film to do so; Deadpool had previously topped out near $783 million.