James Gunn’s DCU Gets a Confusing Timeline Update
James Gunn will be rebooting the DCU (again), but there is a catch.
Ever since James Gunn was hired to reset the timeline within the DCU, fans have been guessing which movie would be the first one in Gunn’s canon. The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom all come out in 2023, but it seems that they are not going to be included in the DCU 2.0.
The likely candidate to reboot the DCU is believed to be Superman: Legacy, which is scheduled for release in 2025, – at least, that is what most fans believe. Well, good news and bad news: they might be right.
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has just officially confirmed that “DC Studios movies (and canon) start with Legacy” in a comment on his recent Instagram post. The comment was in response to one fan’s question about Nathan Fillion’s roles within the DCU (the actor played two different characters in The Suicide Squad and Superman: Legacy).
Gunn’s update means that any DC movie or show that comes out before 2025’s Superman: Legacy will not be a part of the new DCU. Fans are in for a long wait! However, Gunn did previously say on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast that Blue Beetle’s titular character would be “the first [new] DCU character.”
So will Blue Beetle be the first superhero of the DCU 2.0, but the movie will exist outside of the new canon? Or will the character, currently portrayed by Xolo Maridueña, simply be recast? Who knows, but apparently, not James Gunn.
Anyway, it might be a while before the DC Studios’ executives make up their minds and give the fans what they want – a straightforward answer on when the timeline resets. In the meantime, we can still enjoy their projects just the same.
Blue Beetle hits theaters on August 18, 2023. Superman: Legacy is scheduled to debut on July 11, 2025.
Source: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum