With Warner Bros. announcing nine untitled DC Comics movies, one can’t help but assume they’ve got a plan. And at this point, with the pressure to create a fully fleshed out DC Cinematic Universe at an all-time high, it had better be a good one. With the amount of success they’ve had in adapting their comics to other mediums, the place that DC’s movies should take inspiration from is… DC.

Which one is Ryan Reynolds supposed to be again?

You were taken from us too soon.

Just to be clear, I’m not getting into an argument about Marvel versus DC. Both companies have great stories worth your time, and they have their share of awful ones you’re better off skipping. It’s clear that Marvel has been outperforming DC as far as fulfilling the potential of the ir comic book properties on the big screen. It’s also clear that DC means to play catch-up. Lucky for them, they are sitting on everything they need to make it happen.When it comes to adapting their comics to another medium, DC’s biggest successes have always been on the small screen. Batman: The Animated Series is critically lauded as the best superhero cartoon there ever was and ever will be. Justice League not only showed that the fun campiness of the Super Friends could be taken seriously but made characters like Green Lantern John Stewart and Hawkgirl as cool as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman; the show defined that superhero team for an entire generation, to the point where general audiences were confused when a white man was cast in the Green Lantern movie.Those are the most talked about DC TV shows, but people often forget how well-done Superman: The Animated Series was. It gave Superman a proper power level that let him have all the cool abilities without ever feeling overpowered. It embraced all of his signature elements from Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to the Fortress of Solitude and the Phantom Zone, and so well done was this show that it became “my” Superman, the one my brain automatically thinks of when I hear the name. Another unsung hero show is Static Shock, which showcased a black teenage lead with dazzling powers and more bad luck in his personal life than Peter Parker. It’s a testament to DC’s performance with their animated shows that even the less talked about ones are top tier.Teen Titans -- and its current predecessor Teen Titans Go! -- even shows that there’s room for lesser known characters to take center stage. Everyone knows Robin, but how many people knew the plights of Raven or the inventiveness of Cyborg? Yet now most children, teens, and twenty-somethings know them as staples of the DC Universe.Even more recent animated shows like Green Lantern and Young Justice were so good that fans were outraged when they were pulled off the air for reasons that had nothing to do with their quality, which was quite high.DC’s animated success doesn’t stop at cartoon shows. There are countless quality animated features. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is just as good as The Dark Knight, if you ask me. Justice League: War is proof that modernizing the Justice League can not only be done but done well with humor and action, not to mention a cocky Green Lantern that audiences will fall in love with. And then there’s Wonder Woman featuring the voice of Keri Russell, which is fun to show people who say it’s impossible to make a movie about her. If a template is needed for how to make it work, there it is.I could keep listing more animated wins, but you get the idea. Believe it or not, that’s barely covering what DC can do with their characters in another medium.