In October 2022, Warner Bros. Pictures appointed James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-chairs and CEOs of DC Studios. Gunn, who had directed two “Guardians of the Galaxy” films for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and was working on a third upon taking the new role, was likely selected for his work with the MCU and the success of “The Suicide Squad,” which served as a soft reboot and improvement of the 2016 “Suicide Squad” film disaster. Gunn and Safran have since clarified that only certain elements from the previous DC film series will be considered canon in the new DC Universe (DCU) timeline.

The timeline is surprisingly busy, despite the fact that Gunn and Safran have only released three official projects since taking over, but there are several plot points from prior films that will contribute to James Gunn’s DC Universe and its overall tone. In 2023, Gunn and Safran announced the slate of projects and ideas in development for their new DCU. While not everything they mentioned initially will come to fruition, they did provide a good starting roadmap for their vision and have since clarified details about what is and is not canon to the timeline. 

While not every detail of James Gunn’s 2021 “The Suicide Squad” will be considered canonical to the new DC Universe, the basic bones of the film’s plot have since been referenced in newer projects. A team of incarcerated meta-humans, led by Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and Col. Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinneman), travel to Corto Maltese in “The Suicide Squad” under orders from Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). The team also includes Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Rat Catcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Peacemaker (John Cena), and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).

The team is dispatched to erase records of a scientific Corto Maltese program called Project Starfish and assassinate the country’s dictator. Their mission is over after the data is recovered, but most of the team chooses to stay behind and fight following the destructive escape of the alien monster Starro, who threatens to take over the entire island of Corto Maltese. The Suicide Squad is successful in defeating Starro (thanks in part to help from Waller’s own staff) and uses proof of America’s involvement in the experiments to secure freedom from Belle Reeve for each surviving team member.

Peacemaker was dispatched by Amanda Waller as part of the Suicide Squad that traveled to Corto Maltese, but was tasked with a specific brief: To find and destroy evidence of U.S. involvement in Corto Maltese’s experiments surrounding Starro and its minions at all costs. 

Unfortunately for Peacemaker, Col. Flag and Rat Catcher find the data first, much to their shock and horror. Peacemaker insists that they destroy the data while Flag angrily vows to make it public that the U.S. participated in the program. The two fight to the death, with Peacemaker ultimately gaining the upper-hand and murdering Flag.

In “Peacemaker” Season 1, Peacemaker aka Chris Smith wakes up in the hospital after being shot and nearly dying at the hands of Bloodsport in Corto Maltese. He is collected by Advanced Research Group of the United States (A.R.G.U.S.) agents Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) and makes contact with Mr. Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks). 

Murn is leading the team in a covert effort to defeat an alien race known as the Butterflies, who had secretly infiltrated Earth in many countries and systems of power, possessing various human bodies for their purposes. Despite a lot of adversity, the team manages to defeat the Butterflies and Chris earns his freedom, permanently. 

“Peacemaker” Season 1 is not technically in the new DCU, but several of the show’s plot points are carried over to upcoming DCU projects. At the end of “Peacemaker” Season 1, Leota Adebayo decides to go public with her mother Amanda Waller’s many illegal and morally questionable decisions as director of A.R.G.U.S., releasing materials and making a public statement. This will have far-reaching consequences for Amanda Waller. 

Another film that’s not technically in the DCU but that still depicts at least a few canon events is “Blue Beetle,” which tells the story of Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña). It’s good that Gunn and Safran are leaving “Blue Beetle” in a place where some of it can be retconned, because the movie’s choice to kill Jaime’s father in “Blue Beetle” could be impactful to the larger DCU if held up. 

Xolo Maridueña will reprise his role as Jaime for an upcoming animated “Blue Beetle” TV series (which is slated to be released in 2026), so it’s confirmed that Blue Beetle exists in the DCU and his origin story — where he makes a symbiotic connection to an alien “scarab” device that gives him a super-powered exoskeleton — is canon. Until the animated series, fans can only speculated on what else from the film will carry over to the DCU continuity.

About two years after the defeat of Starro in Corto Maltese and the untimely death of Rick Flag, Amanda Waller assembles a new team of Belle Reeve inmates. In order to sidestep increased scrutiny following her daughter’s defection (and release of incriminating files on Waller) and to get around a new rule preventing the exploitation of human inmates, Waller’s new team consists entirely of “creatures” who are not technically human. The team is led by General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) and includes Weasel (Sean Gunn), G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), Dr. Phosphorous (Alan Tudyk), Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), and The Bride (Indira Varma).

Waller sends her team of “Creature Commandos” to the country Pokolistan in order to prevent the villain Circe (Anya Chalotra) from assassinating the nation’s political leader, Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova). The team is faced with more obstacles than they initially thought they’d encounter after it is no longer clear whether Princess Ilana is a villain or an innocent. Frankenstein (David Harbour), who is always looking for The Bride, also comes to Pokolistan, as it is where both he and The Bride were birthed by a scientist named Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz).

“Creature Commandos” introduced DC movie fans to many cool, superhuman characters from the DC Comics Universe, and nearly all of them survive the series. All of “Creature Commandos” is considered canon and a part of the DCU, as it is the first project to officially come out of DC Studios under Gunn and Safran. The most notable outcomes of the series will carry on throughout the greater cinematic universe. After determining that Princess Ilana is indeed sinister, most of the Creature Commandos attempt to carry out the assassination, which results not in the death of Ilana, but Nina Mazursky. 

General Flag nearly convinces everyone (including himself) that Princess Ilana is innocent and altruistic, but The Bride definitively proves that she was masterminding a malevolent strategy from the start and kills Ilana in her private office (more for vengeance over Nina’s death than for Ilana’s machinations). The Bride also kills Frankenstein during the course of the mission. When the commandos return to Belle Reeve, Economos approaches The Bride to let her know that Waller would like her to take over leadership of the team from now on.

Sometime between the events of “Creature Commandos” and “Superman,” General Rick Flag Sr. is named the new director of A.R.G.U.S. following Waller’s resignation from the position, and as such he is partially involved in the plot of “Superman.” Right before the events of “Superman,” Earth’s favorite Kryptonian Clark Kent (David Corenswet) prevents the fascist nation of Boravia from invading its poor, relatively defenseless geographical neighbor, Jarhanpur. 

“Superman” opens in the middle of a fight between Superman and a meta human called the “Hammer of Boravia,” who is actually just Lex Luthor’s (Nicholas Hoult) henchman, Ultra Man (David Corenswet), in an alternative costume. The Hammer massively overpowers Superman during their fight, but ultimately leaves the Kryptonian alive.

While Superman is distracted protecting Metropolis from a giant creature, Lex Luthor and his team — including Ultra Man and the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) — travel to Antarctica and gain access to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. They ransack the fortress, destroy the androids inside, abduct Krypto, and collect a copy of the recording that Clark’s birth parents sent with him to Earth. After recovering the full message (which Clark has never seen) and finding that Clark’s parents sent him to Earth to rule over the planet, Lex releases it to the public as proof that Superman is dangerous. 

The U.S. Government via General Flag, concerned about the message from Clark’s birth parents, authorizes Lex to take Superman into custody for questioning. Superman turns himself in and Lex has him brought to a pocket dimension through an unstable portal. In the pocket dimension, Luthor confronts Clark and uses Metamorpho’s (Anthony Carrigan) powers to keep him restrained with kryptonite. Lex tortures Clark and kills a fan of Superman when he refuses to reveal the identity of his adoptive parents.

Clark’s coworker and secret girlfriend, reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), realizes that Superman has been taken into custody off the grid and recruits help from Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) to find him. Together, they make their way to one of Lex’s transitional camps (which acts as a home for one of his portals) and fight their way to the portal, using it to travel into Lex’s pocket dimension. Mr. Terrific uses his gadgetry to look for Clark and explore the illegal, unstable pocket dimension erected by Luthor and his team.

Meanwhile, Metamorpho is devastated by Superman’s treatment and Lex’s cruelty and, after receiving reassurance that Clark can save his infant son, agrees to collaborate so they can both escape. After they break out of their cell, Clark quickly retrieves Krypto and they, Metamorpho, and Metamorpho’s baby move toward the exit. There, they meet up with Lois and Mr. Terrific, and the whole group narrowly escapes.

The end of “Superman” clearly sets up the upcoming “Supergirl” film, but there are also many “Superman” moments that set up the future DC universe in general. After recovering from his torture, Clark must race to Metropolis where he and Mister Terrific work together to fight Luthor and close the unstable portal that Lex is allowing to swallow the whole city. Superman fights Ultra Man and the Engineer while Mr. Terrific puts his genius to good use, and they are able to save Metropolis and decimate Lex’s resources. Thanks to the journalistic prowess of Lois, Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), and the Daily Planet, Lex’s secret dealings with Boravia are also made public, effectively ruining his reputation and leading to his arrest.

Simultaneous to the events in Metropolis, Boravian forces gather once more on their shared border with Jarhanpur, readying for an invasion. The people of Jarhanpur arm themselves with makeshift weapons and chant for Superman while facing down an organized army composed of trained soldiers with tanks and automatic weapons. Superman must go to Metropolis, though, so he asks Green Lantern Guy Gardiner (Nathan Fillion), Hawk Girl (Isabela Merced), and Metamorpho to go and protect the people of Jarhanpur. They successfully beat back the Boravian forces and Hawk Girl murders the Boravian president.

“Peacemaker” Season 2 is the next DCU project to be released by Gunn and Safran, and it takes place after the events of “Superman.” General Rick Flag Sr., now in charge of A.R.G.U.S., has ordered ongoing surveillance on Peacemaker out of a desire to seek vengeance for the death of his son. Peacemaker, after being rejected from the Justice Society of America, lets Eagly fly around in his father’s pocket dimension where he discovers a door that leads to an alternate universe where his father Auggie (Robert Patrick) and brother Keith (David Denman) are still alive. 

Chris discovers that, in this universe, his alternate self has a loving relationship with his brother and father. Chris can’t resist revisiting the dimension, but in doing so he encounters the alternate universe version of himself, who immediately attacks him. During their skirmish, Chris accidentally kills his alternate universe self. In a panic, he recruits help from fellow 11th Street Kid and unrepentant murderer Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) to dispose of the body. Meanwhile, by using the pocket dimension more frequently, Peacekeeper alerts A.R.G.U.S. to its presence, thanks to Flag’s ongoing surveillance operation.

One of the best parts of “Peacemaker” Season 2 is the twist surrounding Chris’s ideal alternate universe. After his home is ransacked by A.R.G.U.S. and they continue to come after him, Chris takes the pocket dimension to another location and uses it to travel back to the world where his brother and father are alive. Due to Harcourt’s rejection and A.R.G.U.S.’s continued antagonism, Chris decides to go back forever and abandon his home dimension for good. Adebayo, Economos, Harcourt, and Vigilante go in after Chris to convince him to return home. Once there, the team splits off to pursue different leads, with everyone ultimately discovering that this universe is different from theirs in a big way: The Nazis actually won World War II. 

It turns out that Chris’s father and brother, and Harcourt’s alternate self, have been living in a Nazi utopia, and that people of color and others who don’t fit into Nazi ideals are kept in separate work camps. Upon learning this and talking to his friends, Chris decides to return to their dimension. Before they can make the journey, though, they are confronted by Auggie and Keith. Keith is furious that his brother is dead, but Auggie is about to let them return to their dimension when Vigilante murders him, believing Economos to be in danger. Keith is further distressed, as is Chris, and Chris doesn’t let his friends kill Keith before their escape.

While the 11th Street Kids are attempting to bring Chris back from the alternate (Nazi) dimension, Flag is desperate to find Chris and the pocket dimension, and as such decides to seek help from Lex Luthor. Lex gives Flag the means to find dimensional portals and Flag retains and utilizes many of Luthor’s resources and former employees to find that the doorway has been moved to Vigilante aka Adrian Chase’s home. 

They prepare to enter and invade the portal right when Chris and his friends return from the alternate (Nazi) dimension. Chris immediately turns himself in, claims that the rest of the group was working to bring him in the whole time, and surrenders the mobile Portal carrier to A.R.G.U.S.

Chris is convinced he is responsible for the deaths of everyone he loves, so he doesn’t pay much attention when he’s given something to sign that will let him out of jail. When he gets out, he initially stays away from his friends, but they find out that he’s been released and confront him. Led by Leota, the team convinces Chris that he is loved and necessary to their group and to each of them individually, and Chris learns that Harcourt does have feelings for him, even if she isn’t ready to have a relationship.

Flag orders his A.R.G.U.S. agents — including Harcourt, Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez), Langston Fleury (Time Meadows), and Judomaster (Nhut Le) with support from Economos — to travel and audit all of the doors in the pocket dimension. As members of the team continue to die due to the dangers behind each door, Flag bonds with Luthor’s people and becomes more fixated on his own goals. When the team discovers a planet that can sustain human life without any immediate threats detected, he presents it to the Pentagon as Salvation, a new type of prison for meta humans. Bordeaux is disgusted that her team members died to secure a prison, and she joins forces with the rest of the 11th Street Kids — along with Judomaster and Fleury — to form Checkmate, an independent intelligence agency.

With the founding of Checkmate, it seems like Peacemaker and the rest of the 11th Street Kids are on the rise, but at the very end of “Peacemaker” Season 2, James Gunn throws a big curveball at the audience. General Flag and the rest of A.R.G.U.S. personnel who remain following the defection of several agents to Checkmate, overpower and kidnap Chris in the night. 

They bring Chris to the door leading to Salvation — which they’ve extracted from the pocket dimension for their purposes — and push him through the portal. When he expresses shock and outrage, Flag cites the paper Peacemaker haphazardly signed to be released from prison, which says that he will volunteer to go to Salvation in order to test its long-term effects on humans. The season ends with Peacemaker stuck in Salvation, and Checkmate none the wiser.