James Gunn has devoted an official podcast to explaining how The Suicide Squad fits into his rebooted DC Universe. His answers expose the complications created by selectively preserving his earlier projects while discarding their original continuity.
The Suicide Squad and the first season of Peacemaker originated in the DC Extended Universe, with returning characters, established relationships, and appearances by its Justice League.
Rather than delivering the full reset many fans expected, Gunn is importing those productions into the DCU with exceptions and revisions. His explanations raise questions about whether Bloodsport shot the new Superman and how Harley Quinn’s history survives in a universe where the Joker might not exist.
Gunn Declares His DCEU Movie Canon—With Exceptions
According to Variety, Gunn joined Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee on The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast to discuss how his 2021 film fits into the DCU.
He ultimately declared that the movie largely belongs to the new continuity, while leaving Harley Quinn’s future unresolved.
“I want to be given a little leeway with this by the fans,” Gunn said.
Harley Quinn in The DCEU – YouTube, Warner Bros. Pictures
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Yet The Suicide Squad brought back Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, and other DCEU characters. Peacemaker followed directly from that film, with a first-season finale featuring the previous franchise’s Justice League, including Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash.
Gunn is transplanting those stories into a different fictional history, then revising the connections that complicate the transition.
Bloodsport Shot Superman, But Apparently That Wasn’t A Defeat
Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba in The Suicide Squad, put Superman in intensive care with a Kryptonite bullet.
During the podcast discussion, Gunn considered moving the film’s events to approximately 2023 or 2024 to accommodate the DCU timeline.
That would fold Bloodsport’s attack into David Corenswet’s Superman’s history. However, Gunn’s Superman opens by establishing that the hero has just suffered his first defeat.
Superman wounded in the snow in the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman – YouTube, DC
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Gunn suggested that Superman being shot while flying around would not necessarily constitute a battle.
“It’s not even necessarily defeat. He just was shot,” he said.
An ambush need not technically constitute a battle. Nevertheless, an attack that leaves Superman in intensive care sounds like a substantial setback. Preserving Bloodsport’s backstory now requires a qualification about what counts as a defeat.
Leaving The Suicide Squad in the DCEU would have avoided this complication entirely.
Robbie’s Return Could Shape Harley’s History
Gunn also left open whether Robbie would return as Harley Quinn. Variety reports that he would welcome her back but does not know whether she wants to reprise the role.
“If Margot wants to play her, then I’ll bend over backwards to explain that in the world,” Gunn said during the podcast.
That suggests Harley’s continuity could be shaped around the casting outcome.
Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad – Warner Bros.
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“What I’m saying is Margot is the one who has to decide whether or not Suicide Squad is canon,” he joked.
The remark captures the uncertainty surrounding his explanation: the film is largely canonical, but one of its principal characters remains subject to accommodations.
His subsequent discussion of Harley’s past revealed how substantial those could be.
Harley Quinn Exists, But Does The Joker?
“We don’t know if Joker exists yet,” Gunn said on the podcast.
He also acknowledged: “Obviously, Joker is a part of Harley’s past.”
Gunn then suggested that Harley’s references to an old boyfriend could concern someone other than the Joker, while recognizing that this would depart from her familiar origin.
Jared Leto as The Joker in Suicide Squad – YouTube, Warner Bros. Pictures
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That leaves an awkward proposition: preserving a movie featuring an established Harley Quinn while leaving unresolved the existence of the character central to her traditional backstory.
Robbie’s Harley entered The Suicide Squad after appearing in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. Her portrayal already carried a history involving the Joker and her separation from him.
Gunn is free to reinvent that background. But audiences are being asked to accept her later adventure as DCU history while he considers whether a relationship informing her character involved an entirely different person.
A Reboot Built Around What Gunn Wants To Keep
Peacemaker has already demonstrated this method onscreen. Its second season revised the first season’s Justice League encounter by substituting the DCU’s Justice Gang.
Viewers must carry the earlier story forward while accepting that a scene they watched happened differently.
That approach leaves audiences sorting through events that remain intact, events that have been rewritten, and details awaiting future decisions.
James Gunn – DC, YouTube
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Gunn can choose a selective reboot, but the confusion follows from that choice. His projects began in the DCEU, and preserving them requires reconciling their stories with a replacement universe.
For fans who expected a clean break, explanations about why Superman’s hospitalization might not count as a defeat—and whether Harley’s former boyfriend was even the Joker—offer little reassurance that DC has found a clearer direction.
Would DC have been better served by a complete reset, or do you support Gunn carrying parts of the DCEU into his new continuity? Sound off and let us know!
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