James Gunn reminds fans no current DC Films movie is "canon" for his upcoming DC Universe

Canon is a tricky concept when you’re talking about modern superhero universes, which are typically driven as much, if not significantly more, by business decisions and box office dictates as any kind of cohesive storytelling strategy. Marvel has spent years trying to litigate with itself over what stuff counts—typically negotiating between its movie projects and its various TV shows, operating at different levels of “real.” Warner Bros.’ DC Comics movies have found themselves in an even messier position, as multiple creative heads have come and gone on what’s ostensibly supposed to be a complete story, leaving its “universe” as little more than a serious of glorified cameos from big-name stars like Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck.

DC Films co-head James Gunn has come out on social media this week to pass judgment on the canonicity of current (and future) DC movies with his upcoming plans for a DC Universe, and it’s a verdict that we can’t help but raise our eyebrows at: None of it is real, at least until next year. “Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos next year,” Gunn wrote on Threads this week, referring to his upcoming Max show as “A sort of aperitif to the DCU – & then a deeper dive into the universe with Superman: Legacy after that.” Which is a slightly strange thing to hear from a studio co-head who does, in fact, have more superhero movies coming out this year—including the upcoming Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. (It doesn’t help that the last several DC movies, including Flash and Blue Beetle, have suffered from a certain degree of who-cares-ism regarding their position in a wider story.)

But Gunn invites fans to, well, embrace the mystery: “It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time,” he wrote, “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.” He also acknowledged in the post that “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.” He then concluded with a merman icon, presumably as a nod to Jason Momoa’s continuing tenure as Aquaman. So that’s all cleared up!