Superheroes Have Existed for 300 Years in James Gunn’s New DCU_1 DC Studios

Superheroes Have Existed for 300 Years in James Gunn’s New DCU

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 11:32 AM ET

When Superman hits theaters in July, it will begin the new cinematic DCU in earnest. And one thing that will set the DCU apart from the MCU is just how long regular people have known about super-powered individuals. In the MCU, Captain America was the first public “enhanced” being. Yes, Eternals were around, but they lived in secret. The heroic age of the MCU really started when Iron Man debuted. Even in the adjacent X-Men timeline, mutants didn’t become known until the mid-20th century. But according to Gunn, in the DCU, super beings have been known quantities to the average person for 300 years! Here’s how Gunn explained things to Entertainment Weekly:

If you saw a shark-man walking down the street, you’d probably vomit and s— yourself to death. If they [the average citizen of the DCU] saw one, it would be more like if you saw Paul McCartney on the sidewalk in New York.

Specifically, the publication notes of the new DCU led by Gunn, “In this world, humanity has been clued into the existence of metahumans (i.e., super-powered individuals) for 300 years.”

So, in James Gunn’s DCU, metahumans or superheroes have been around so long, people just aren’t quite as phased about their existence, even if they are rare. We supposed the best analogy in pop culture would be how the average citizen of the Star Wars galaxy views Jedi during the prequel era. A rarity, but everyone knows they exist. The idea that superheroes have existed and have been in the human awareness for so long means we can have DCU films and series set in all kinds of eras. A World War II Justice Society story, or a story of the demon Etrgian in the 19th century. It’s all on the table now. And it will be interesting to see if the presence of metahumans shaped history differently, as they did in DC Comics’ Watchmen.

Superheroes Have Existed for 300 Years in James Gunn’s New DCU_2 DC Comics

In a separate post on Threads, Gunn also clarified how DC’s metahumans differ from Marvel’s many classifications of enhanced beings. In Marvel, you have ancient Eternals, androids like Vision, and alien gods like Thor. Then, you have a distinction between mutants like the X-Men and enhanced humans like the Fantastic Four. In DC lore, “metahuman” is a catch-all phrase for anyone with powers, or as we say colloquially, superheroes (or villains). Here’s how Gunn views metahumans in his DCU:

In DC Comics, a metahuman is a human-like being with extraordinary, often paranormal, abilities. These powers can arise from a variety of sources, including science, magic, alien origins, mutation, divinity, proficiency, or technology. Therefore 4 (Superman’s robot) is probably not a metahuman but Terrific arguably is. Krypto is meta but I won’t say he’s not human because he might read this.

If James Gunn’s Superman is successful, we might have a DCU wilder than any superhero cinematic universe seen before on screen. And we are definitely ready for this new, stranger comic book world to take flight. Superman arrives in theaters everywhere on July 11.

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

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