DC fans are more confused than ever about what's part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU, with Superman: Legacy acting as the first film in the franchise but somehow not the first entry.
After adding Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, and Isabela Merced to the cast of Superman: Legacy, Safran told Vanity Fair that DC Studios was aiming to make its new franchise of films and TV shows as easy to understand as possible.
"We are trying to minimize audience confusion and maximise their enjoyment," he said, after explaining that viewers can watching Superman: Legacy, Creature Commandos, and even Peacemaker Season 2 without any prior watching.
But confusion has definitely not been minimized.
"This DCU is so damn confusing. They should have just done a hard reboot and scrapped everything from the [Zack] Snyder movie era," said one fan on Reddit.
"Confuse the fans more please," added another.
DC used The Flash as a canonical moving on point from the DC Extended Universe — which began with Snyder's Man of Steel and was set to end with Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — but now at least Blue Beetle is confirmed to be making the leap to the DCU.
He'll be joined by "a handful of other characters" according to a Threads post from Gunn, however, "even though the first DC Studios movie is Superman: Legacy [and] the first DC Studios project is the animated TV show Creature Commandos."
Some fans are a little frustrated by this though, hoping that the DCU's Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters would become a completely fresh jumping on point in DC's cinematic universe.
"I think this is a mistake," said TheHighGround99 on Reddit. "The DCEU is so confusing even without the Gunn [and] Safran reset. The Frankenstein approach of keeping some stuff but killing the rest is weird.
"Blue Beetle specifically is fine because he's never interacted with the rest of the DCEU but the Peacemaker and Suicide Squad leftovers muddy the waters; they've interacted with the Synderverse."
Simonc1138 weighed in too. "I still wish Gunn had bit the bullet and done a complete reset — as a comic fan you’d think he would’ve learned from the last half dozen times DC has done partial resets on its comic continuity."
Superman: Legacy is due to premiere on July 11, 2025, and will tell the story of a young Superman as he balances his Kryptonian and Kansan heritage.
Even more confusion initially surrounded Cavill's involvement after the Man of Steel actor announced his return as Superman alongside the release of Black Adam, but he later revealed he wouldn't be returning after all following Gunn and co-CEO Peter Safran's shake-up at DC.
Gunn was confirmed to be writing Superman: Legacy but later revealed he would direct too, though assured that it won't have the "same vibe" as his Marvel superhero offering Guardians of the Galaxy. The film entered pre-production in April, and while details are still slim, Gunn said he's open to making it more mature but is generally aiming for a PG-13 rating.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
