James Gunn Finally Confirming What’s Official DCU Canon in The Suicide Squad

Published Oct 29, 2026, 2:06 PM EDT Willa Rowe is a contributing writer at Polygon, covering games and entertainment. She is a New York-based journalist and critic whose work has been featured in Kotaku, Digital Trends, the A.V. Club, GamesRadar+, and more. She also co-hosts the Girl Mode podcast. And you'll be able to watch him do it because everything is content Image: DC Studios Sign in to your Polygon.com account Ever since James Gunn was named co-head of DC Studios in 2022, the filmmaker has spent years answering fan questions about what past and current projects constitute the new DC Universe canon. One of the biggest points of contention is 2021's The Suicide Squad, which Gunn directed before the new DCU was a thing. Now he's finally going to give the definitive answer on exactly what from the film is canon, and you'll be able to watch the whole thing. HBO Max has announced "The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast." Gunn will host the special one-off event alongside DCU actors Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee. It will be released on Oct. 30, and you will be able to watch or listen on HBO Max, the official DC and HBO YouTube channels, and major podcast platforms. In the trailer for the podcast, Gunn said that fans keep asking him the same question about The Suicide Squad, "What is canon?" Now he's going to answer it. Here's the podcast's official description from HBO Max and DC: The Suicide Squad came out before the cinematic DCU existed. Since then, Peacemaker has gotten his own show, and Weasel has joined the Creature Commandos. The trio digs into Harley, Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2, King Shark, Amanda Waller, and more, with stories from the set, messages from a few friends from The Suicide Squad, and answers to your fan questions. What is James Gunn's next DC Universe project? Image: Warner Bros Pictures/The Everett Collection Gunn is currently hard at work on Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to 2025's Superman. The film will see Superman and Lex Luthor team up to take down Brainiac, with a number of other familiar faces from across the DCU returning. Most recently, Gunn confirmed he has finished the film's assembly cut, essentially a first draft for the movie's final edit. A second season of Creature Commandos is also in the works, though Gunn will not be writing the show as he did in the first season. We do know the filmmaker is already working on his next project after Man of Tomorrow, with writing underway. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess what the project will be. There are a number of films and TV shows on the slate for DC but most of them already have writers and directors' attached.