The beginning of the new DCU under James Gunn is almost here. The animated Creature Commandos show debuts before the end of the year which will be followed next summer by one of the most highly anticipated 2025 releases, Superman, the first of several upcoming DC movies already announced. These will launch an entirely new DC franchise that isn’t connected to any of the previous films or series… except for the ways it’s connected to the previous films and series.
The implication was always that the new DCU, whose first chapter of the story is called Gods and Monsters, would be a complete reboot of DC on the big and small screen, with a new Superman, new Batman, and everything else. That’s not entirely the case. Speaking at a New York Comic Con panel (via Comicbook.com) James Gunn says that some elements of the previous universe will be canon if they are specifically mentioned as being so. Gunn said…
There are references to things that happened in the past, and those references then become canon in the DCU because we mention them.
And now I have a headache.
Rather than making a clean break from the past, the new DCU will be keeping a few things that existed previously. John Cena is set to return in a second season of the popular Peacemaker series on Max. However, while the new season will be part of the DCU, the previous season will not be. Unless, of course, for the parts of Season 1 that are important to Season 2 that are part of the story. Those parts did happen.
We also know that Xolo Maridueña, who played Blue Beetle in a DC movie in 2023 will be the Blue Beetle of the new DCU. But the events of the film itself are not canon. So whenever we see his character, he’ll need to be seen as just as “new” as Milly Alcock as Supergirl.
I feel like this is going to make things confusing. Starting over entirely with a clean break between franchises makes sense. Continuing the story of the franchise, even with a bunch of recasting, could make sense. Something in the middle, which sees many characters get new stories except for the parts that are old stories feels messy.
Will these few connections be limited to characters whose roles are carrying over or could they also impact new characters? Could we learn that something from Henry Cavill’s Superman is part of the backstory for the character played by David Corenswet? Could whoever plays Batman in The Brave and the Bold still be connected to the version of the character played by Ben Affleck, or even Michael Keaton?
It sounds like the things from previous films and series that will connect to the new ones will be fairly minimal, but at this point, we just don't know. Hopefully, things won't be too confusing.
