Batman: Under the Red Hood

Dare to look beneath the Hood.

RELEASED 27 Jul 20101h 15m★ 7.8 TMDB★ Essential pick

One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code.

WATCH NOTE

Batman: Death in the Family (2020) revisits this film’s story baseline with new interactive alternate outcomes. It is an optional branching companion rather than a single chronological sequel; its linear versions also reuse material from this story. This entry covers the Batman: Under the Red Hood feature. Its Blu-ray and two-disc special-edition DVD also package the separate DC Showcase: Jonah Hex (2010) animated short, catalogued independently. That bonus short is optional and excluded from this feature's runtime and character coverage; packaging does not establish shared continuity.

Why it matters in DC

Red Hood's methods confront Batman with a rival who fights crime while rejecting his restraint. That makes the story's significance an argument about justice and its costs, not simply the arrival of another colourful opponent in Gotham.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before Batman: Under the Red Hood — 18h 34m in total.

Batgirl: Year OneOptional background15h
A separate adaptation of Batman and Robin & Nightwing; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Under the Red Hood’s story continuity.
Superman: Red SonOptional background1h 12m★ 7.2
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Under the Red Hood’s story continuity.
Superman/Batman: Public EnemiesOptional background1h 7m★ 7.1
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Under the Red Hood’s story continuity.
Justice League: Crisis on Two EarthsOptional background1h 15m★ 7.3
A separate adaptation of Batman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Batman: Under the Red Hood’s story continuity.

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How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Batman: Under the Red Hood is title 10 of 118 in our Animated Elseworlds viewing sequence. Under the Red Hood is a focused animated Batman story about Gotham, a returning threat and competing methods of fighting crime. It sits among separate adaptations rather than the Damian-led connected film sequence. Other Robin stories can offer comparison, but their events should not be treated as this film's missing earlier chapters.

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