James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was never just another DC superhero film. Released in 2021, the R-rated adventure brought the filmmaker’s irreverent humor, grotesque monsters, and gloriously expendable villains to a franchise that had struggled to find its footing. Now, as Gunn shapes DC Studios’ new cinematic universe, the film has become part of a much bigger continuity question.

For fans who have spent years tracking his characters, cameos, and throwaway references, Gunn has an answer in an unexpected format: a podcast dedicated to sorting out what actually counts.

Titled The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast, the new podcast series features James Gunn alongside Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee, both of whom have appeared in his DC projects. Premiering on October 30, 2026, the podcast tackles a question that has followed Gunn’s transition from directing individual superhero films to overseeing the DC Universe: which parts of the 2021 movie belong to the new continuity?

The series, through its trailer, promises to examine specific events, character histories, and lingering questions while bringing behind-the-scenes stories and fan queries into the conversation. Instead of treating the earlier film as an entirely separate chapter or automatically preserving every detail, Gunn can address how its events fit into the franchise he is building now.

For audiences who remember the film’s explosive finale and the post-credits setup for Peacemaker, those distinctions could have significant implications for the characters and stories that survive the transition.

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Gunn is, however, not simply deciding which old stories deserve a place in the DCU, but he is establishing how a reboot can retain meaningful pieces of its predecessor without turning two different cinematic universes into one timeline.

James Gunn has previously described The Suicide Squad as an “imperfect memory” in the context of the DCU’s continuity. His approach allows selected elements from earlier projects to carry forward when subsequent stories explicitly acknowledge them, rather than making every previous event automatically binding.

With Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2 helping establish the new franchise’s history, those references become important clues for separating confirmed continuity from speculation.

Rick Flag Jr.’s death is one of the most consequential examples. His m***** at the hands of Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad becomes relevant to the new DCU through later references to the event. Project Starfish and the Corto Maltese mission likewise remain important parts of the film’s story, although individual details should not be assumed to carry over without confirmation.

The same caution applies to Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, and Ratcatcher 2. Their appearances in the 2021 film do not, by themselves, establish every aspect of their histories in the rebooted universe. The podcast allows Gunn to clarify these distinctions while revisiting the creative decisions behind the film. Whether it resolves every fan debate or sparks a fresh round of theories, the series could make the relationship between the old and new universes easier to understand. 

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Which The Suicide Squad storyline do you most want Gunn to confirm as DCU canon? Share your thoughts in the comments.