James Gunn Confirms Superman: Legacy As New DCU Canon, No Connection With The Suicide Squad

James Gunn, DC Studios co-president confirms The Suicide Squad, his DC premier film, isn’t cannon to the upcoming DC Universe franchise.

Although the movie was his DC debut and led to the spin-off of Max’s Peacemaker show, The Suicide Squad is not canon to the planned DC Universe series, according to DC Studios co-president and co-CEO James Gunn.

Gunn was asked if Nathan Fillion’s character from The Suicide Squad, The Detachable Kid/TDK, was intended to be alive and if his death in the film will be rebooted in a dialogue with a fan, which was uploaded on Reddit via the DCEUleaks thread. “DC Studios movies (and canon) start with [Superman: Legacy],” Gunn responded. During a Twitter watch party for the film, Gunn confirmed that TDK had survived the film in 2021, stating, “Important to note if you look at the life signals in the Comms hub TDK isn’t dead.”

Regarding Fillion, it was recently reported that he will play Green Lantern Guy Gardner in Superman: Legacy. Legacy will also include Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, in addition to David Corenswet as the eponymous Man of Steel. It was also reported that audiences will see Legacy introduce The Authority before the team gets its own DCU film, which, like Legacy, will be included in the DCU’s first chapter, “Gods & Monsters.”

James Gunn’s DC Universe Begins with Superman: Legacy

@DC_News_update shared an important update regarding the future of the DCU:

James Gunn confirms #SupermanLegacy is the first canon #DCU movie! pic.twitter.com/VDdMgbmkJA

— DC News (@DC_News_update) July 12, 2023

When asked why Legacy has so many heroes in it, Gunn responded, “[The other heroes] fit the story I’m telling. Story always comes first.” Of course, the hero cast of Legacy has expanded with the addition of Gotham actor Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho.

Returning to Task Force X, Gunn reiterated that there are no plans for a third Suicide Squad movie. The director earlier dismissed the possibility of a third cinematic outing for the titular group being in the works in 2022, stating at the time, “Yeah, we’ve talked about it. But the honest truth is, I just have so many hours in a day to work on stuff. And I had such a fun time working in television that I really think that’s what I’m going to spend the next year of my life doing.” All things aside, Suicide Squad film veteran Viola Davis is set to reprise her role as Amanda Waller in the series Waller, which is part of “Gods & Monsters,” and is set between Peacemaker’s first and second seasons.

Stream The Suicide Squad on HBO Max Now!