James Gunn Says Bloodsport Shooting Superman With a Kryptonite Bullet Could Have Happened in the DCU
Few throwaway lines in superhero movies have caused as much continuity debate as one in ‘The Suicide Squad‘. When Amanda Waller introduces Bloodsport, she explains that he’s in prison for shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet and sending him to the hospital. It was a fun bit of backstory at the time, but it became a puzzle once James Gunn started building a new universe with a different Man of Steel.
Fans have been asking ever since whether that incident counts. Now, with Gunn’s long-awaited canon podcast, the answer on whether a Bloodsport Superman Kryptonite bullet DCU history holds up has finally arrived, and it is more flexible than many expected.
On ‘The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? — The Official Podcast’, Gunn said he likes this bit of history. He called it interesting if Bloodsport took down David Corenswet’s Superman with a Kryptonite bullet, said it doesn’t bother him and said he thinks it could have happened. He also said he won’t let it get in the way of his plans.
That is a notable shift in tone. It suggests Gunn is willing to fold the incident into the new continuity rather than treating it as a leftover from the old DCEU.
James Gunn on if Bloodsport shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet is DCU canon "I think it’s sort of interesting if Bloodsport took down David’s Superman with a Kryptonite bullet. I think it could’ve happened" (@DCUPRIMETV) https://t.co/CgXd9zOBUR
— Superman Saga News (@SuperSagaNews) October 29, 2026
The obstacle is the opening crawl of ‘Superman’ in 2025, which reveals that the hero has only been publicly operating for three years and has just lost his first fight. That seems to clash with a Kryptonite shooting that happened years earlier. Gunn’s solution on the podcast is to move the events of ‘The Suicide Squad’ closer to 2023 or 2024, rather than its 2021 release date.
He has also argued that being shot unexpectedly isn’t the same as losing a fight. In an earlier discussion on Threads, he likened it to an assassination rather than a battle, noting that Superman could be hit from a distance without being outmatched. That reasoning preserves Bloodsport’s backstory without contradicting the movie’s claim.
It hasn’t always been this clear. During the press run for ‘Superman’, Gunn indicated that Corenswet’s hero hadn’t been shot by Bloodsport, at least for the time being. He has since said that everything mentioned or referenced in later projects counts as canon, and that other material may become canon down the line.
That fits the broader picture on the podcast. Gunn declared ‘The Suicide Squad’ canon, calling it the first canon film in the DCU, though he asked for some leeway on how certain details work out. Bloodsport’s history with Superman is one of the details he is now willing to accept.
Bloodsport is already part of the DCU canon, with Gunn confirming it through a deleted-scene discussion on the ‘Peacemaker’ podcast. Idris Elba’s character shot John Cena’s Peacemaker and helped lead the mission against Starro. Gunn has said he’d like to see Elba return as Bloodsport or even as someone else.
On the podcast, he also suggested that the ‘Waller’ series isn’t necessarily dead. Elba has said he’d like to tell the Superman story, so a payoff to the Kryptonite incident would be a natural way to bring him back.
The timeline matters because Superman’s story is moving forward. ‘Superman’ takes place in 2025, ‘Man of Tomorrow’ in 2027, and ‘Peacemaker’ season 2 a couple of months after the first film. ‘Man of Tomorrow’ arrives in theaters on July 9, 2027, with Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult returning, along with Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner and Milly Alcock’s Supergirl.
A Bloodsport appearance in that film would be a fun callback. Gunn has previously said he could revisit these DCEU questions once he’s finished with ‘Man of Tomorrow’.
The idea itself is straight out of the comics. John Byrne created Bloodsport in 1987, and in his first clash with Superman, he severely weakened the hero with a Kryptonite bullet. Superman recovered and confronted him again, which is a pattern that could easily be adapted for the screen.
That makes the film’s throwaway line feel less like a continuity error and more like an early piece of fan service. Gunn seems to appreciate that history.
For viewers, the takeaway is that the DCU’s rules are flexible. Gunn isn’t treating canon as a strict checklist, and he’s open to bending dates to keep the stories he likes. The answer on Bloodsport shows that approach in action.
It also leaves the door open for a story about what happened between the two characters. With the right project, that moment could finally get the screen time it deserves.
How should the DCU handle this piece of backstory?
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