James Gunn signs off on a fan-made DCU timeline — and it has some surprises
With a single Threads reply, James Gunn has effectively blessed a fan-made DCU canon timeline — and the exact running order might surprise you.
If you are one of the many who have been trying to figure out how all the DCU films and series actually fit together, you are not alone. The studio itself still hasn't coughed up a full, official timeline for this sprawling saga. But thanks to one very persistent fan and a rare moment of direct clarity from James Gunn, we now have the closest thing yet to an actual DCU roadmap — and frankly, it's a relief to get a straight answer for once.
The full fan timeline runs from 2016 through to 2027, covering more than a decade of DCU releases.
Gunn Backs a Fan Timeline
This all started with a post on Threads, of all places, where a fan went ahead and built their own DCU timeline — then cheekily tagged James Gunn, asking for his 'favourite director's opinion'. Give the fan credit: it worked. Gunn didn't go in for a deep dive, but after about an hour he replied with something most studios never give you:
James Gunn replied, 'Timelines give me anxiety but I think this is pretty good.'
No corrections, no bizarre hedging, just a quick vote of confidence — which, in franchise-land, counts for a lot. Gunn didn't tell the fan to get lost, and he didn't say they got anything wrong. If you're waiting on some grand executive statement (or a glossy infographic), this is probably it for now. The studio hasn't released anything more official.
What Actually Happens (and When)?
The fan's roadmap attempts to stitch together films and TV spread over more than ten years. Here's the order Gunn didn't dispute, with each title in its place:
- 2016: Lanterns episodes 1-5
- 2021: Clayface
- May 2022: The Suicide Squad
- October 2022: Peacemaker Season 1
- 2023: Blue Beetle
- 2024: Creature Commandos Season 1
- May 2025: Superman
- June 2025: Peacemaker Season 2
- 2026: Supergirl
- 2026: Lanterns episodes 6-8
- 2027: Man of Tomorrow
There are a couple of oddities that stand out straight away. For starters, Lanterns jumps ahead: the first five episodes drop in 2016, with episodes six to eight not showing up until 2026, a full decade later. Then you've got a pair of yet-to-be-dated projects — Creature Commandos Season 2 and People vs. Gorilla Grodd. Gunn, for the record, didn't say anything about where those fit in the mix.
This lines up with what Gunn's said elsewhere. He's compared the DCU's structure to something like Star Wars: you don't absolutely have to start at the 'beginning', and some stories, like Clayface, are meant to work on their own terms. On the flip side, he does say that upcoming films like Superman connect directly to Man of Tomorrow. It's definitely less of a straight-through saga and more of a 'find your own path' situation.
If you have been shouting at your telly, wondering where Peacemaker fits versus Blue Beetle, or how the new Supergirl actually lines up, you've now got a plausible running order that James Gunn himself hasn't shot down. If DC Studios ever gets round to publishing their own formal timeline, maybe things will shift. For now, this fan-made list backed by Gunn's lazy approval is as close as we are likely to get.