James Gunn has, once again, clarified the status of the DC timeline by explaining how the franchise will piece together. And, it turns out, it’s exactly the same as what he’s been saying for the past few months. No change.
As one of the people in charge of the upcoming DCU overhaul, which (almost) completely reboot the franchsie across movies and TV, Gunn likes to — or more accurately feels compelled to — field questions from curious fans. Sure, most of these are about who will be in the cast of the upcoming DC movies, beginning with Superman Legacy, but some have also related to where the existing films are streaming.
“What happened to [DC] not selling themselves out to everyone and being all divided?!” said one social media user to Gunn on the derelict platform Threads, continuing, “I guess there’s a new Batman movie at Amazon, the entire DCU is at Netflix and maybe more coming… I can’t wait to hear more lies from your mouth… thanks for keeping up the confusion!”
Naturally, the ex-Marvel director did the only thing he knows how, and responded to clear things up. “[You] misunderstand. DC projects being spread across different platforms, so that more people have access to the stories, is not the same as not having any cohesion in the DCU timeline which we very much do (it starts with Creature Commandos).”
He continued, “Merry Little Batman on Amazon is a fun animated kids’ movie that was already being made when we came aboard, but Elseworld animated projects like this will keep happening. I’m not sure how that’s confusing.”
This interaction leave us with two main thoughts. Firstly, the irritated fan does have a point. The DC movies and series from throughout the past few years have been scattered across every possible streaming services, never quite seeming to find a permanent home. This is in stark contrast to the likes of Marvel and Star Wars, over at Disney Plus, and Star Trek, at Paramount Plus. But, then again, with the reboot on the horizon, does it really matter if old content is alongside all the new stuff? Maybe not.
Here’s the second thought: maybe we should all stop asking questions about the new DCU franchise until it actually comes out. We’ll all learn about the structure of the new timeline when it starts to unfold itself, when watching the DC movies in order should become an easier, much more straightforward task. Having a constant cycle of continuous updates from behind the curtain does sap some of the joy, and surprise out of it all.
In a best-case scenario, Gunn’s new iteration of the DC will have a coherent timeline, and will all be available on a single streaming service. That would make everyone happy, right? For more DC content, read our list of the best DC characters and DC villains. Or, learn what to expect from the upcoming Batman: The Brave and the Bold.