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James Gunn has a blunt response to Marvel fans questioning DCU‘s continuity. Lately, the filmmaker has been fielding numerous questions about what counts as canon in his rebooted DC Universe. Gunn is now reminding fans that he faced similar questions during his time at Marvel.
Gunn recently announced a special podcast examining whether The Suicide Squad is canon to the DCU as part of DC Super-Villain Month, a fan wrote in a post that has since been deleted: “Marvel has never had to clarify continuity this much.”
Gunn responded bluntly on Threads: “I was asked this shit constantly at Marvel.” Gunn spent nearly a decade working on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films before becoming co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran.
Marvel has faced its own share of continuity questions over the years
Over the years, Marvel has faced its own share of canon questions. As another fan pointed out in the replies to the Threads post: “Are you sure? Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Defenders? Agent Carter? Fury’s big week?…..don’t even get me started on X-Men.”
Marvel Television, then headed by Jeph Loeb, operated separately from Marvel Studios, led by Kevin Feige. The separation sometimes made it difficult to coordinate storylines across the two divisions. The continuity and “canon” status of Marvel’s older television projects became subjects of debate among fans.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. initially tied its storylines closely to the movies, but the writers did not know the full plot of Avengers: Infinity War while developing the show’s fifth season. Similarly, The Defenders made occasional references to the wider MCU, while the movies rarely acknowledged the Netflix series’ street-level heroes. Agent Carter also prompted continuity discussions over how its events fit into the wider MCU timeline.
Gunn’s response pushes back against the idea that the Marvel Cinematic Universe never faced constant scrutiny over canon, noting that he faced similar continuity questions while working at Marvel.
Originally reported on SuperHeroHype.com.