James Gunn Has One Big Asterisk on ‘The Suicide Squad’ Being DCU Canon

Few corners of the DC Universe have caused as much head-scratching as the question of what survived from the old DCEU. Since Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, fans have tried to sort out which characters, events and films carried over and which got quietly left behind. The answer has often been a shrug and a vague promise to explain later.

Gunn has described the approach as “light canon,” a phrase critics read as a way of saying the studio will use what it wants. The first episode of ‘Creature Commandos’ made the events of ‘The Suicide Squad’ and ‘Peacemaker’ season 1 canonical in the new DCU. That still left plenty of fuzzy edges, especially around the people who were in those stories.

Now Gunn has weighed in on one of the fuzziest. He appeared on a podcast titled ‘The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon?’, where he and his wife and co-host Jennifer Holland answered fan questions. The one-off podcast was launched by Gunn and DC this week.

His verdict on the film was blunt. Gunn called ‘The Suicide Squad’ canon, said the matter is decided, and went further by calling it the first canon film in the DCU. He added that it fits into continuity more easily than the first season of ‘Peacemaker’ does.

There is a catch, though, and Gunn flagged it himself. He said there is “one small asterisk,” and it comes down to what the future of Harley Quinn looks like. He asked fans for a little leeway, since he isn’t sure how that will play out, and said the rest of the movie is canon.

Then he got more personal about Margot Robbie. Gunn said he loves her as Harley but doesn’t know whether she wants to play the character again, adding that she “may be over that.”

The comments make more sense in light of how Gunn has talked about the role before. He said that if Robbie wants to play Harley, he’ll go to great lengths to explain that in the DCU’s world, but if she doesn’t, he might go with someone else. He also said Harley is a character he will almost certainly use in the DCU, and that the choice largely rests with Robbie.

That leaves the DCU in an odd spot. Robbie has played Harley in three DC movie projects, and ComicBook.com notes that all three struggled either to turn a profit or to win over the core fanbase. A recast would let Gunn avoid tying the character to what happens to her in ‘The Suicide Squad.’

The question has been hanging around for a while. In August 2025, Gunn told Entertainment Weekly he definitely wanted to bring back Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, while Harley’s casting stayed a mystery. More than a year later, the picture is only slightly clearer.

Canon in the DCU has never been tidy. Gunn previously said Blue Beetle was the first DCU character and ‘Superman’ was the first DCU film, which is why his new claim confused some fans. The movie also introduced Peacemaker and killed off Rick Flag Jr., which sets up Rick Flag Sr.’s storyline in ‘Peacemaker’ season 2 and beyond.

For now, fans will have to take Gunn at his word that the film counts, with a Harley-shaped question mark hanging over it. The DCU continues with Gunn’s ‘Man of Tomorrow’ on July 9, 2027. Whether Robbie’s pigtails make it into that world is still unanswered.