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James Gunn confirms the DCU's timeline is in release order ... for now

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated May 19, 2025 5:27 PM ET

Although Creature Commandos came first, it’s James Gunn’s Superman that really kicks off the new DCU properly. It will be followed by Peacemaker season 2, then Supergirl in 2026, as well as Clayface. But will all of these projects actually be in chronological order? After all, the third MCU film, Captain America: The First Avenger, took place before Iron Man and Iron Man 2. So far, however, it seems Gunn has confirmed that the DCU timeline will be a (mostly) linear one. Each new film/series takes place after the one that preceded it. No shenanigans. Via IGN, here’s what we learned Gunn said when someone on social media asked him about the DCU timeline:

As of now it’s basically as the movies and shows come out – although of course some of these feature flashbacks – Creature Commandos, Superman, Peacemaker, Lanterns, Supergirl.

If anything, this kind of confirms that Lanterns will arrive on HBO Max before Supergirl arrives in theaters in June 2026. Having said that, in his response, Gunn used the phrase “As of now.” This means that when they get to future projects, like the Wonder Woman prequel series Paradise Lost, we may have DCU entries that take place long before anything set in the present day. If the Booster Gold series ever gets off the ground, that one may potentially take place in the future.

But for now, any potential “DCU Timeline” we see on HBO Max in 2027 or so will simply be the announced projects in their chronological release order. And this is a good thing, in our opinion. Sometimes things like Star Wars, which has movies and TV series set all over the timeline, are confusing to general audiences. There’s nothing wrong with everything simply set in the order we see them. This is something James Gunn definitely seems to understand.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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