In April 2017, DC Universe was announced as an untitled service with original television programming,[4] with its title revealed a year later in May.

[5] The next month, the features of the service beyond original programming were revealed, including access to older DC live-action and animated films and animated series for a select period of time, a rotating selection of comics, forum discussion space, a merchandise store, and DC encyclopedia.

[7] Several original series were announced and developed for DC Universe: Titans and Young Justice: Outsiders, premiered in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

[8] A Superman prequel series titled Metropolis was announced in January 2018, focusing on Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.

[15] In August, DC Comics publisher Jim Lee revealed that all original programming would be migrated over to HBO Max.

[23] Pre-orders for the streaming service became available starting on July 19,[24] while an early beta-version was made available to select users in August.

[20][better source needed] At launch, the service included the four live-action Christopher Reeve Superman films, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, Young Justice, Teen Titans,[6] Batman Beyond, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Justice League,[24] the live-action television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Wonder Woman, the last remastered in high-definition,[25] and animated films including Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Green Lantern: First Flight, and Wonder Woman,[6] among others.

[40] DC Universe won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for Media Streaming in the category Web.