James Gunn Says Batman’s DCU Suit Doesn’t Exist Yet

Keeping track of what counts in James Gunn’s DCU has become a hobby of its own for superhero fans. Between inherited characters, old-universe cameos, and projects at different stages of development, there are plenty of questions and few official answers.

Luckily, Gunn has made a habit of replying to fans directly on Threads. He has used it to shoot down rumors about ‘Teen Titans’ and ‘The Batman: Part II’, so big clarifications sometimes arrive as casual replies instead of press releases.

On Monday night, Gunn did it again, answering a fan’s string of questions, and the headline is that the DCU Batman suit hasn’t been designed yet. He noted that the fan had technically asked 5 questions in one post, then worked through them in order.

The Batman answer fits with what Gunn told CBR before ‘Superman’ hit theaters, when he said no decisions had been made about the costume. He pointed out that he didn’t know about Superman’s trunks until the last minute, so a late call on the Dark Knight’s look isn’t a surprise. ‘The Brave and the Bold’ is the Batman film known to be in the works.

The fan also asked whether Wally West is currently active in the DCU. Gunn’s reply was a shrug in text form, saying simply, ” Who knows. The most interesting correction came on ‘Blue Beetle’. The fan asked whether Ted Kord was friends with Blue Beetle before he disappeared, a question that assumed the 2023 movie counts as canon. Gunn clarified that the character is canon, but he has not said the movie is.

That distinction matters. Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes is part of the DCU, but the exact story of the film remains up in the air, so a different version of the story could still appear. In the film’s mid-credits scene, Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle, was revealed to be alive, which makes the unanswered Ted question even more tempting for fans.

Another fan said they could picture Gunn writing and directing the ‘Teen Titans’ movie. His answer was a flat no. DC announced in March 2024 that Ana Nogueira would write the film, and Gunn later said the script didn’t exist yet because she had moved over to ‘Wonder Woman’ first. He has also said that anything fans have heard about the story is a guess or made up.

The last question asked whether Black Adam, the Justice Society and a ‘Shazam!’ movie are canon. Gunn again said no. That matches his earlier comments to Den of Geek, where he said ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ aren’t canon, even though both films feature Emilia Harcourt and John Economos from ‘Peacemaker’.

Gunn has also said that nothing from before ‘Creature Commandos’ is canon unless it is expressly referenced in the DCU. For the fan base, that works as a simple rule of thumb: assume an old DC project is out unless Gunn says otherwise.

Put together, the latest answers show a DCU still under construction in a few key places. The studio is taking its time on Batman’s look and keeping its options open on ‘Blue Beetle’, and it isn’t pulling ‘Shazam!’ or ‘Black Adam’ into the fold. For fans, that mix of patience and clarity is exactly what Gunn has been offering on Threads.