DC Studios boss James Gunn treated fans with more information about the canon of his DCU reboot.
While it has been clear from the get-go Gunn (and his DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran) were coming in to reinvigorate DC's on-screen efforts, what that has meant for the last decade and change of DCEU films remains murky.
For as many reports of a "[complete] reboot" coming to the super-powered franchise, there have also been mentions of some elements from the current canon coming along and being translated over.
Xolo Maridueña, John Cena, and Gal Gadot are just a few of the names headlined by others who were seemingly set to make the move to the new DCU, despite coming from the past era of DC storytelling.
James Gunn Clears Up Canon Confusion
In a series of posts online, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn cleared the air about the DCU canon and some of the actors potentially coming over from the nearly-defunct DCEU.
Replying to a fan, Gunn shared on his Threads account, "Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos next year," with the animated series serving as an "aperitif to the DCU" before Superman: Legacy's "deeper dive" into things in 2025:
"Nothing is canon until 'Creature Commandos' next year - a sort of aperitif to the DCU - & 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 its okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet."
He also addressed the idea of heroes like Blue Beetle's Jaime Reyes making the jump from the current DC canon into this new rebooted universe, spelling out that "some actors will be playing characters they’ve played," but "nothing is canon until CC and Legacy:"
"And, yes, 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.'"
When prodded about whether audiences will have to watch anything prior to some of these returning characters' appearances in the DCU reboot, Gunn retorted, "They will not, no."
Who Is Returning in the DCU Reboot?
Despite James Gunn giving fans a bit more information about how the canon is going to work in his reimagined DCU, there are still plenty of questions.
The biggest of these queries is who exactly will be coming back to play their DCEU roles in the super-powered reboot.
There are a few obvious names. In a separate post on Threads, Gunn confirmed "Xolo Maridueña will continue playing Blue Beetle in the DCU, as Viola Davis will Amanda Waller, and John Cena will Peacemaker.”
This is in line with what the DC executive has said previously. Gunn announced a Season 2 of Peacemaker, the Waller TV show starring Viola Davis, and has even gone as far as calling Maridueña teenage hero "the first DCU character."
But one name that remains off this list is Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman.
The DCEU actress was recently quoted as saying she was told by James Gunn and Peter Safran they are "gonna develop a Wonder Woman 3 together."
That would make one assume the Gadot would be coming back as well. Maybe things are too early on that project for Gunn to outright confirm the actress' return, or perhaps she will not be coming back at all.
Gunn has been pretty good at keeping fans updated on these sorts of matters, so perhaps it is only a matter of time before the DC Studios boss chimes in on Gadot specifically.
The DCU is set to kick off in 2024 with the animated Creature Commandos series on Max.
