There has been some confusion surrounding how the events of The Suicide Squad can be part of both the DCEU and the rebooted DCU, but the shocking first sequence helps to explain how this is possible. James Gunn’s DCU is now in full swing with Creature Commandos leading the charge and Superman soon to follow. For the most part, the DCU is a reboot of DC’s shared cinematic universe, doing away with the vast majority of events that occurred in the erstwhile franchise and breathing new life into DC’s cinematic ventures.

Nevertheless, Creature Commandos wasted no time muddying the waters by referencing the events of The Suicide Squad. James Gunn has recently clarified that the line between the franchise is not exactly definitive and that certain events of the DCEU will be made canon as and when they are referenced in the DCU. The Suicide Squad is one such movie where this line has been blurred, with some confusion already arising now that certain characters have reprised their roles and certain events have been mentioned. Still, The Suicide Squad‘s opening sequence might actually help to make heads and tails of the set-up.

The Suicide Squad’s Opening Mᴀssacre Actually Makes It Easier To Move It From The DCEU To The DC Universe

Those Who Died Will Probably Not Be Missed In The DCU

There are big parallels to be drawn between The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos. Both star a ragtag team of villainous characters coerced into doing Amanda Waller’s bidding, and there are some – like Weasel – who have even been a part of both teams. Notably, however, Weasel was seen to have survived the opening mᴀssacre in The Suicide Squad, where the initial ᴀssault on Corto Maltese led to the orchestrated deaths of the first landing party so that another strike team comprising the majority of the movie’s тιтular task force could take advantage of the distraction.

Killing off so many of The Suicide Squad‘s characters makes it a lot easier for the DCU to navigate integrating the movie into canon, simply by refusing to integrate these characters. The Corto Maltese mᴀssacre almost serves as a narrative reset, leaving just a handful of other characters like Weasel and Harley Quinn for the DCU to navigate when implementing James Gunn’s canonicity policy. Furthermore, it’s hard to ignore how disposable these characters are by design – and it isn’t as if the DCU is going to miss many.

The Suicide Squad’s Early Deaths Can All Still Be DC Universe Canon Without Many Complications

But Captain Boomering Might Present An Issue

Ultimately the condemned first party comprised some of DC’s most obscure characters. The loss of such minor players as The Detachable Kid is unlikely to impact the DCU should the entirety of The Suicide Squad be considered canon, meaning references to the movie within the DCU can come easily. Even Polka-Dot Man, who was crushed by Starro in The Suicide Squad‘s final act, is obscure enough that it’s unlikely that Gunn will wish to re-use him in a future DCU installment.

That is not to say that making The Suicide Squad canon is not without complications, however. For instance, whether Margot Robbie and Idris Elba will return as Harley Quinn and Bloodsport, respectively, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Captain Boomerang’s death would prevent him from fulfilling his role as a villain to the Flash in the DCU. Nevertheless, as James Gunn’s comments stipulate, the DCU may just re-cast the former and retcon the latter – but at least the initial mᴀssacre makes these discrepancies less frequent than they might have been otherwise.

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