James Gunn being confirmed as DCU canon creates a butterfly effect that doesn’t bear thinking about

Having come under regular fire for shoehorning his nearest and dearest into the majority of his projects, the shoe has been placed firmly on the other foot after a behind the scenes image from The Flash confirmed that none other than James Gunn exists as official canon in the DCU.

Director – and likely The Brave and the Bold helmer – Andy Muschietti shared a snap that showcased a poster for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed on the wall of a young Barry Allen’s bedroom, with the family-friendly sequel having a screenplay penned by Gunn. However, the downside is that if you think about it too hard, the butterfly effect is enough to cook your brain.

Gunn’s previous screenplay prior to Monsters Unleashed was the Dawn of the Dead remake, which was directed by a certain Zack Snyder. Does that mean he’s canon, too? If so, then Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League just got a whole lot more interesting.

Do the filmmaker’s forays into superhero cinema with Guardians of the Galaxy count, and does that mean the Marvel Cinematic Universe exists in the DCU? Eternals name-dropped Batman, but the favor has yet to be returned, so maybe it does. Alicia Silverstone played Heather Jasper Howe in Monsters Unleashed, and she was infamously a major part of Batman & Robin, so did the citizens of the fictional universe take a trip to the theater to see George Clooney starring as Ben Affleck’s real-wold Dark Knight in Joel Schumacher’s infamous disaster?

We haven’t even mentioned Matthew Lillard, who voiced Shaggy in an episode of animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as Jason Burr in several installments of Beware the Batman, or Seth Green’s uncredited cameo in Shazam!.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was an innocent Easter Egg.