“It’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU,” says James Gunn, before stepping in to clear a few things up.
There’s lots of reasons being mooted as to why superhero films aren’t doing as well these days, but one of them is simply confusion that then leads to apathy. We’ve all certainly met our fair share of movie fans who find multiverse stories, characters debuting on TV then appearing suddenly in the films to be too difficult to follow.
James Gunn’s new-look DC Universe hasn’t even launched yet, and there already seems to be confusion surrounding it in terms of what’s going to be canon and what isn’t. For large sections of the fanbase, this isn’t a huge issue, but there are still plenty of folks out there who are confused about reports that some actors from the outgoing DCEU are reprising their roles in the new DCU.
We know that Xolo Maridueña will continue as Blue Beetle, Viola Davis will return as the brilliantly ruthless Amanda Waller and that John Cena will return to play Peacemaker once more. Naturally, that has fans wondering which of the storylines, supporting characters and plot events from the DCEU that these characters have been involved in will be ported over to the new-look DCU.
Gunn has taken to social media to clear things up and the answer is pretty simple. None. Not yet at least.
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“Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos next year – a sort of aperitif to the DCU,” stated Gunn, before adding, “then a deeper dive into the universe with Superman: Legacy after that. It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think it’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”
Gunn did offer a little more detail, stating that some of the backgrounds and stories surrounding these characters might appear in the DCU, but pointed out that this doesn’t mean there will be an attempt to integrate everything together: “And, yes, some actors will be playing characters they’ve played in other stories and some plot points might be consistent with plot points from dozens of films, shows and animated projects that have come from DC in the past. But nothing is canon until CC and Legacy.”
It seems like a smart move. Given the current climate surrounding superhero films, the DCU really needs to be a success straight out of the gate, should it want to assert a positive narrative about the many films that are planned to follow in the wake of Creature Commandos and Superman: Legacy. Falling over itself to establish clear continuity between two cinematic universes won’t help in that regard, especially when it doesn’t matter to most audience members who’ve just turned up to see a great film.
Gunn has promised more updates in the near future now that the writers’ strike is over. We’ll let you know when that news emerges.
