DC Super Hero Girls


DC Super Hero Girls, also released as DC Superhero Girls, is an American animated superhero web series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the third quarter of 2015.
The DC Super Hero Girls series was later reimagined by Lauren Faust, who had previously worked on The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. This resulted in a full rebrand for the series, centered around an eponymous television reboot of the same name, which began airing on Cartoon Network in March 2019. The rebooted series was inspired by Faust's DC Nation Shorts entry Super Best Friends Forever from 2012, while carrying over certain themes from the earlier DC Super Hero Girls web series.

Overview

Premise

At Super Hero High School, well-known DC heroes, both male and female, attend challenging classes and deal with all the awkwardness of growing up with the added stress of having unique superpowers.

Announcement

The web series was announced in April 2015. Includes an graphic novel line, books from Random House, Lego tie-ins and action figures from Mattel. The intended audience is girls aged 6–12.

Website

The website was launched in early July 2015. Characters featured at launch were: Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Katana, and Bumblebee. Other characters including Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Star Sapphire, Beast Boy, Cheetah, Hawkgirl, and Catwoman also appear. Amanda Waller is featured as the principal of the series' setting, Super Hero High. Many other DC Comics heroes and villains appear in the background as cameos.

Publication history

DC Super Hero Girls was originally launched in 2015 with an animated web series on YouTube. Over the course of 2016, the web series was expanded with a graphic novel line, additional animated and digital content, toys, and apparel. Diane Nelson, former president of both DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, stated in 2016: "We think DC Super Hero Girls can be bigger than a $1 billion brand".
A relaunch of the web series began with the 2019 DC Super Hero Girls TV series. Also that year, the DC Zoom imprint "launched with the continuation of DC Super Hero Girls" graphic novel line. The DC Ink and DC Zoom imprints were built off both the creative success of the post-New 52 DCYou program, which "employed younger creators than the New 52 titles, with the titles having a more contemporary feel", and "the financial success of the DC Super Hero Girls property". Dan DiDio, DC's co-publisher from 2010 to 2020, explained that "a lot of that had also to do with our interest in getting the young adult marketplace. That was DC testing the waters and wondering what a young adult book would be from DC Comics".

Episodes

The series was launched with a total of 112 episodes divided into 5 seasons. The first season premiered on 1 October 2015. The second season premiered on 21 April 2016. The third season premiered on 26 January 2017, while the fourth season premiered on 18 January 2018. The fifth and final season premiered on 2 August 2018 and ended on 27 December the same year as a cliffhanger.

Cast and characters

DC Super Hero Girls has various characters inspired by the DC Universe. Certain characters are voiced by actors who have performed as the same characters previously. The characters listed below are listed on the franchise's website:

Voice cast

Reboot television series

In 2019, the DC Super Hero Girls was rebooted as a TV series developed by Lauren Faust, with a continuity separate from that of the previous version. Web series connected with the series began to be released online on 10 January, and the full series premiered on Cartoon Network on 8 March.

Other media

Films and specials

Special (2016)

Direct-to-video films (2016–2018)

Novels

published a series of text-only novels. Lisa Yee wrote every novel for the original series which each focus primarily on one character's experiences as a student at Super Hero High. American "big box" retailer Target has released special editions of the Wonder Woman and Batgirl novels that include additional materials.
TitleISBNRelease date
Wonder Woman at Super Hero High1 March 2016
Supergirl at Super Hero High5 July 2016
Batgirl at Super Hero High3 January 2017
Katana at Super Hero High4 July 2017
Harley Quinn at Super Hero High2 January 2018
Bumblebee at Super Hero High3 July 2018

Graphic novels

The DC Graphic Novels for Kids imprint published a series of graphic novels based on the series. In 2025, the series received a new graphic novel by creators Shea Fontana and Yancey Labat to commemorate its 10th-anniversary.
TitleISBNRelease date
Finals Crisis5 July 2016
Hits and Myths1 November 2016
Summer Olympus11 July 2017
Past Times at Super Hero High26 September 2017
Date with Disaster31 January 2018
Out of the Bottle7 August 2018
Search for Atlantis26 September 2018
Spaced Out4 June 2019
High School Reunion2 June 2026

Toys

From 2016 to 2018, Lego featured a product line using DC Super Hero Girls logo. 12 Lego sets were distributed. These sets used Lego Friends style mini-dolls figures rather than traditional Lego minifigure, a design aimed at feminine markets.