James Gunn, head of DC Studios, has signaled how he intends to distinguish the new DC Universe (DCU) from the prior Snyderverse with a subtle but telling choice involving character identity. Rather than fully discarding the previous DCEU iterations, Gunn’s fresh interconnected DC canon selectively incorporates certain characters, reimagining them within a newly defined narrative framework.
The recent fifth episode of Peacemaker Season 2, streaming on HBO Max, offered fans a glimpse into how legacy characters fit into this approach. The episode opens at the funeral of Rick Flag Jr., a figure portrayed by Joel Kinnaman across both Snyder’s Suicide Squad films and now integrated into the DCU. Observant viewers noticed a key change: this version of Flag carries a different middle name from the one associated with the Snyderverse character.
Subtle Changes Highlight Separate Timelines Within DCU
While the Snyderverse’s Rick Flag Jr. was identified with the middle name Rogers, as revealed by official trading cards tied to that era’s films, Peacemaker’s Season 2 memorial refers to him as Bill. This modification supports the idea that characters resurrected from the DCEU in Gunn’s DCU exist as variations, or variants, within an alternate timeline rather than continuations of the original Snyderverse versions.
By changing a detail as specific as a middle name, Gunn appears to be setting a precedent for how legacy characters are reinterpreted. This nuanced signal allows dedicated fans to recognize the distinction between old and new incarnations without needing overt narrative explanations, offering a method to differentiate characters while maintaining familiar faces.
Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag Jr. is anticipated to reappear later in the season as Peacemaker, played by John Cena, embarks on his journey through alternate realities. Peacemaker continues to release new episodes every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.
Reasoning Behind Integrating Select DCEU Figures into the New DCU
The presence of familiar DCEU characters such as Peacemaker and Rick Flag Jr. in Gunn’s DCU has caused some confusion among fans expecting an entirely fresh slate. However, Gunn’s strategy seems to be a deliberate middle ground: preserving select characters from the Snyderverse for narrative richness, while discarding the broader Snyderverse history as canon.
Rather than committing to all prior storylines or characters as official, Gunn appears to be cherry-picking elements that fit his vision, repurposing them as part of a reconstructed DC multiverse. This means the new DCU does not endorse every detail or dialogue from the Snyder-era Suicide Squad movies as canon but retains specific plot points essential to ongoing stories, such as Rick Flag Jr.’s death at Peacemaker’s hands in Corto Maltese.
Ultimately, unless James Gunn or official DCU communications explicitly confirm otherwise, the legacy projects from the Snyderverse are not considered part of the new unified DC canon.
Rick Flag's middle name is changed.
From Richard Rogers Flag, Jr. in the DCEU, to Richard Bill Flag, Jr. in the DCU.
While we're not sure why it changed, this reconfirms that the DCU is a new timeline, where some past events are canon, but other things have changed. pic.twitter.com/f2ozAmes5u
— DCU Brief (@DCUBrief) September 19, 2025
