James Gunn puts The Suicide Squad's DCU status on the table

Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee join a one-off podcast, with messages from John Cena and David Dastmalchian.

Channel: HBO Max Story of October 30, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 388,460 views a day, 17 times a normal first day on this channel (22,500).

The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast | Trailer

"No, it's life or death for The Suicide Squad in the DCU," James Gunn jokes, after Jennifer Holland asks whether their conversation is going out live.

That is the playful setup for a fairly tangled question: which parts of Gunn's film still count in DC's shared screen universe? HBO Max's promotional trailer for a special podcast drew more than 300,000 views in its first 15 hours, an unusually fast start for the channel's Shorts. The comments had already exceeded ten times its usual full first-day total.

The Suicide Squad arrived in 2021, before the cinematic DCU took shape. Since then, Peacemaker has gained his own show and Weasel has joined Creature Commandos. Familiar characters have continued, but that does not automatically settle which earlier events came with them.

Gunn joins Holland, who plays Emilia Harcourt, and Steve Agee, who plays John Economos. The trailer previews cast messages from John Cena and David Dastmalchian, plus questions from viewers. In the comments, people propose their own continuity rules, ask for Captain Boomerang's fate to be reconsidered and imagine a hypothetical "DCU Cut" of the film.

The full podcast has also been posted and is drawing views faster than HBO Max's usual regular uploads. Its chapter list gets specific: Bloodsport's Kryptonite bullet, Harley Quinn's place in DC and actors playing multiple characters all receive dedicated sections. A chapter labeled "The Final Verdict" comes near the end; the trailer itself does not supply that answer.

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James Gunn puts The Suicide Squad's DCU status on the table The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/hbomax-20445/?from=kit

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The numbers

The trailer's fast start is accompanied by an unusually busy comment section. The full podcast is also running ahead of the channel's usual pace for regular videos.

the video's first day

usual first day here

22,500

this video

388,460

subscribers

3,200,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

2,734,585,820

views per day

1,335,378

typical day: 2,992,801

the video

views

309,425

likes

4,440

comments

409

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

Bravo

3,470,000

ABC

3,300,000

HBO

3,260,000

HBO Max

3,200,000

South Park Studios

3,120,000

E! Entertainment

3,100,000

As of October 30, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.