Just when you thought The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom possessed the tiniest chances of stoking the burning embers of the SnyderVerse for just that little bit longer, none other than James Gunn himself appears to have made it perfectly clear that the DCU is an entirely different entity from the franchise started off by Zack Snyder with Man of Steel a decade ago.
During his appearance on longtime friend and regular collaborator Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, the co-CEO of DC Studios seemingly confirmed that the DCEU and the DCU are not one and the same, with this summer’s Blue Beetle also being confirmed as the launchpad for the rebranded superhero sandbox ahead of Gunn’s own Superman: Legacy in July of 2025.
“I mean the first DCU character for sure is Blue Beetle and the first DCU movie is Superman.”
If we take his quote at face value – always a dangerous game in the world of costumed crimefighters – then it sounds as if Blue Beetle the feature film won’t factor too heavily into the ground scheme of things, but Xolo Mariduena’s title hero will. Meanwhile, the DCU proper ignites with Superman: Legacy, where Gunn will lay the groundwork as writer and director.
Of course, the SnyderVerse subset is going to be less than pleased about the latest development, even if Gunn has made it perfectly clear on many occasions that the mythos won’t be resurrected, restored, or sold off to Netflix. Not that it’s going to dampen the disquiet, though, especially with The Flash landing this weekend.