James Gunn Confirms DC Studios Canon Starts With Superman: Legacy

James Gunn is clarifying what is — and what isn’t — canon in the new DC Universe. In January, DC Studios co-chairmen and CEOs Gunn and Peter Safran announced the DCU Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, slating five films and five television series that connect and are “designed to minimize audience confusion” with the DC Extended Universe. Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and The Authority are included in the lineup, as are the Max Original series Creature Commandos, Suicide Squad spin-off Waller, and Lanterns. But what about DC’s upcoming Blue Beetle? Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom? Peacemaker season 2? Where do they fit in the DCU canon?

“DC Studios movies (and canon) start with [Superman] Legacy,” Gunn replied to a fan who wrote they were “confused” about the new DC continuity on Threads. The question came after news that Nathan Fillion — who already played The Detachable Kid / T.D.K. in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad — had joined the Superman: Legacy cast as the Guy Gardner Green Lantern. 

Gunn has described his Superman reboot as “the true foundation of our creative vision for the DC Universe,” but the Man of Steel (David Corenswet, replacing Henry Cavill) won’t be the first superhero of the new DCU. Corenswet leads a cast that includes Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho. 

The filmmaker and studio chief also confirmed that Xolo Maridueña, who makes his debut as Jaime Reyes in Blue Beetle, will “continue on in the DCU” alongside “a handful of other characters” from the soon-to-be discontinued DCEU canon. This includes members of Team Peacemaker and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who return in Waller. 

Superman: Legacy “is really the launch of the DCU,” Safran told press during a slate reveal earlier this year. Safran added that the animated Creature Commandos and the live-action Waller, which will release before Superman, are “an amuse-bouche [appetizer] for what’s coming up” in the rebooted DCU.

“The DCU’s a multiverse, but we’re going to be focusing on oneuniverse from that multiverse,” Safran explained. “And if something isn’tDCU, we’re going to make that very clear. So, strictly adult fare likeTodd Phillips’ Joker, or kids animation like Teen Titans Go!, we’re going to make it very clear that those are DC Elseworlds, just the same way that they do it in the comic books.”

DC’s Blue Beetle opens in theaters August 18th. Gunn and Safran’s DC Studios has slated Superman: Legacy for July 11th, 2025.