The gosh darn DCU hasn’t even really kicked off yet and we’re already up to our eyes with canon confusion. It seems like it’ll be a fresh start, with brand new iterations of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the gang. But, Peacemaker season two is happening. Season one was a direct continuation of Gunn’s own The Suicide Squad, a movie firmly ensconced in trappings of the DCEU. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) debuted in the garbage Suicide Squad movie, for gosh sakes. Well, it’s actually much simpler than it seems.
James Gunn, who’s on the press tour for the animated series Creature Commandos, has been fielding this question left, right, and center. Luckily for the head of DC Studios—and for all of us—is he has an answer. Whatever happened has happened, but only if titles from here on out reference them. It’s “light canon.” It’s a fun way of saying “we’ll use what we want, thank you very much.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn said “Peacemaker is pretty straightforward, with the exception of the appearance by a certain group at the end. They don’t exist yet.” This of course refers to the Justice League cameo at the end of season one. “But the rule is: If we mention [something from the past] in one of the new DCU shows [and movies], then it happened. So that’s the way we’re dealing with it.”
This, of course, makes perfect sense. Gunn joined the DCEU basically at the very end and his influence filled a void left by Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon’s influence. The Suicide Squad was in every way that counted a standalone movie from the previous DCEU, with the exception of Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, and a few other ill-fated squadders. Creature Commandos directly follows up from both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season one. Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. is the father of the Rick Flag who died in The Suicide Squad. Rick Flag Sr. will also feature prominently in Peacemaker season two. Weasel was in The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos.
Now, stuff we don’t know is whether Margot Robbie will be the DCU’s Harley Quinn or if the new version of the events of The Suicide Squad will omit her from the record. But the mission itself, Operation Starfish, is “light canon,” or at least presumably is. Get it?
Honestly, don’t worry about it too much. It’ll be important if it’s important. But I think it’s very likely we won’t see much of the old DCEU that Gunn himself didn’t have a direct hand in. And Blue Beetle which seems like it’ll still be canon.
Creature Commandos debuts on Max Thursday December 5.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
