The latest episode of HBO's DC Universe series Lanterns has officially confirmed that the events of James Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad are canon within the new continuity. This clarification addresses a significant point of ambiguity regarding the canon status of Gunn's previous DC films.
In the sixth episode of Lanterns, John Stewart, now an architect, presents plans for large-scale panic rooms designed to protect Midway City's four million residents from super-powered destruction. During his presentation, Stewart references the destruction witnessed in Metropolis and poses a hypothetical about what might happen during another attack, specifically asking what people would do the next time “a giant starfish” wreaks havoc. This direct mention of a "giant starfish" is a clear allusion to Starro the Conqueror, the alien entity that was the central antagonist in The Suicide Squad.
The continuity of The Suicide Squad within the new DC Universe, which began with Creature Commandos and the film Superman, has been a subject of discussion. While Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad featured characters and storylines that carried over, director James Gunn had previously described The Suicide Squad as an "imperfect memory," leaving its exact canonicity uncertain. Gunn stated on Bluesky that only content from Creature Commandos onward is "pure canon," but also indicated in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that new productions acknowledging elements from previous films would automatically make those elements canon.
The reference in Lanterns suggests that Starro's rampage, as depicted in The Suicide Squad, did indeed occur within the new DCU. While this doesn't necessarily confirm every detail of the movie's plot as absolute canon, it strongly implies that a team, likely the Suicide Squad featured in the film, confronted and defeated the alien threat. The event is now an established part of the DCU's history, accepted as a real incident.
This confirmation serves a dual purpose. It solidifies a specific event from a previous film into the new continuity, resolving questions about its place in the overarching narrative. Additionally, the reference highlights John Stewart's character arc in Lanterns. Despite leaving the Green Lantern Corps, he continues to focus on protecting ordinary people by designing advanced safety measures, demonstrating that his commitment to saving lives remains, even outside his role as a Lantern.
