James Gunn says The Suicide Squad is DCU canon, Bloodsport's kryptonite bullet and all

James Gunn has settled a question DCU fans have argued about since 2025. The Suicide Squad (2021), his film for the old DC Extended Universe, now counts as part of the new DC Studios continuity, and that includes one of its most surprising Superman details.

What we know

Gunn talked through the film’s canon status on The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon?, a one-off YouTube podcast with Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt) and Steve Agee (John Economos). Until now, the film and season one of Peacemaker had been treated as “soft canon”, with some events counting in the DCU and others left vague.

Their conclusion is that the whole film can count. That includes Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, who was sent to Belle Reve prison for putting Superman in intensive care with a kryptonite bullet. (Here’s what kryptonite does to Superman.)

Gunn said he likes the idea of that bullet having hit David Corenswet’s Superman. “It doesn’t bother me; I think it could have happened,” he said.

He also acknowledged a wrinkle in the timeline. The Suicide Squad is set in 2021, but Corenswet’s Superman has only been active for about three years when Superman (2025) begins, so the film’s events would have to shift forward a couple of years.

Why it matters

This is the clearest statement yet on how much of Gunn’s pre-DCU work carries over. It also gives Corenswet’s Superman an off-screen brush with death in his early career, something future films, perhaps Man of Tomorrow, could pick up. Catch up with the whole saga in our Superman films in order guide.