James Gunn: No upcoming DC movie is “canon” to his new DC universe

To put it simply, the DC universe is a bit of a mess right now, at least when compared to the mammoth Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s standalone movies, movies and TV shows that are supposed to connect, lead actors dropped, and projects that have been axed altogether. New DC boss James Gunn has one solution to fix this hot mess: simply press the reset button and go from there.

James Gunn’s fresh start DC franchise will kick off with Superman: Legacy, which is slated for release in 2025. He’s already got plenty of exciting projects in the works, from the Batman movie The Brave and The Bold to Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.

Everything seems meticulously planned out years ahead of time. It didn’t feel like this before, when the franchise couldn’t shake the feeling that it was rushing to chase after Marvel’s success. But before the new continuity commences, the current DC universe must air its final projects. This includes Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, which is out later this year.

Some DC actors will play the same roles in James Gunn’s new DC Universe

The first DC project to be set within Gunn’s new continuity is Creature Commandos, which follows team of a military heroes during World War II. “Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos next year,” Gunn revealed to fans on Threads. He called the series an “aperitif to the DCU” ahead of the release of Superman: Legacy a year later.

Interestingly, Gun says fans may notice some similarities with previous continuities, such as actors playing some of the same roles, but ultimately he wants the new DCU to be a totally fresh undertaking:

"And, yes, some actors will be playing characters they’ve played in other stories & some plot points might be consistent with plot points from the dozens of films, shows & animated projects that have come from DC in the past. But nothing is canon until CC and Legacy…It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time. But I think its okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet."

Gunn put a little merman emoji at the end of his thread. Is he teasing some connection to the upcoming Aquaman movie? Or is he just playing with us? We’ll let you be the judge of that. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is due out on December 20.

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