James Gunn shares an optimistic update on the future of the DCU, teasing what’s to come for fans as the cinematic universe takes shape.
James Gunn has dropped a handful of clarifying comments about the future of two of DC’s biggest icons — The Flash and Wonder Woman — and the answers are equal parts cautious and intriguing for fans tracking the DCU relaunch.
On Episode 6 of the official Peacemaker podcast, co-host Steve Agee mentioned a classroom scene in Season 1 where kids talk about The Flash and Wonder Woman. James Gunn didn’t make any definitive declarations. “Yeah, are they canon? I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. I mean, they’ll exist eventually. Whether they exist now, I don’t know,” he said, signaling that while those characters are on DC’s long-term radar, their present-day status in the new DCU is still being worked out.
That comment is notable because it’s James Gunn’s first on-screen-era note about the DCU’s present-day Flash since the reboot began. He’d already previously clarified that Ezra Miller’s Flash cameo in Peacemaker Season 1’s finale — which featured the Justice League — is not DCU canon. (For context from the pre-reboot era: The Flash (2023) was the character’s last film before the DCU relaunch.)
Fans have already seen teases of a fresh speedster in the new continuity: a Max Mercury mural appeared in Superman and the DCU introduced its first live-action Superman, played by David Corenswet. At the same time, James Gunn has previously signaled a deliberate breathing room between old and new incarnations — saying that neither Flash nor Aquaman would show up in the DCU for at least two years — an approach that appears meant to separate the DCEU portrayals from future DCU debuts.
Wonder Woman, too, got a cautious nod from James Gunn. His remarks imply a Wonder Woman will exist in the DCU, but he suggested she may not be a straight carryover of the DCEU’s long-lived Themysciran warrior. A Wonder Woman project is reportedly in development under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios leadership, hinting the character’s return will likely be reimagined for this new chapter.
All of this ties into an intriguing Peacemaker Season 2 rumor that circulated online: scooper @MyTimeToShineH claims the Season 1 Justice League cameo will be replaced for the DCU era with a cameo from the Justice Gang — the team introduced in Superman (2025). According to that claim, the reshot sequence would include Mister Terrific, Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, though only Green Lantern and Hawkgirl would be fully visible in the scene. The rumor also says the Aquaman/Flash exchange from the original Season 1 ending would be swapped out for a gag involving Peacemaker, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.
Whether that reshoot is final or simply a production tweak, it underscores how careful the studio is being about continuity as the DCU’s road map takes shape. Peacemaker Season 2 does bring back its starring ensemble — John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee and Danielle Brooks — and is set to premiere August 21, 2025, on HBO Max.
James Gunn has been active in conversations beyond the podcast, too. In a Threads exchange he weighed in on Superman’s relationship to the Justice Gang, arguing the character’s independence is part of his DNA: “Well I think there could be a few reasons but, first off, you’d have to ask how comfortable Superman would be in a team financed by one of the world’s biggest corporations – a team that also promotes that corporation. Yeah he is like a team member. But he’s an independent guy our Clark.” That same public back-and-forth saw James Gunn push back on box-office speculation, calling the $650 million “need” for Superman rumors “absolutely false,” and stressing that the studio would not hinge the franchise’s future on an unrealistic breakeven threshold.
Bottom line: James Gunn‘s latest comments make it clear the DCU will continue to reshape and reposition familiar figures — keeping older portrayals at arm’s length while plotting how and when new versions will arrive. Fans should expect more fine-tuning (and occasional reshoots or rescores) as DC Studios rolls out the next phase, with Peacemaker Season 2 and the new Superman offering the first big glimpses of which heroes will be front and center.
