A shot from the film "Suicide Squad" where Jared Leto as the Joker is seen on the foreground, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in the background. (Photo : Twitter/Yahoo! Movies)
By the time fans get to see the new film "Suicide Squad," it is revealed that the DC films appear to be sharing a single universe together, and how they are connected to each other are nothing short of amazing.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe does not make the interrelations and connections of its shows and films blatantly obvious, as they are usually done through subtle references and implications. "Suicide Squad" directly divulges the opposite: everything in the DC Extended Universe is not only connected, but also part of a bigger whole, and all the stories are just one piece of a giant puzzle, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Consider how the film opens up: not only does it directly suggest the existence of Superman; it even went as far as to divulge the ending of "Dawn of Justice" for the people who have not watched it. This also suggests that the film takes place right after the final events of "Batman v. Superman", in which it then becomes some sort of spin-off sequel of the first two Superman films instead of being a standalone franchise.
There is a distinction between how Marvel and DC suggest and implicate the existence of a shared universe. In Marvel, there are a bunch of subtle Easter eggs throughout the film, usually in the credits, where the existence of other superheroes are hinted, but the films themselves can be watched as a stand-alone without having to see the others.
In DC, this does not seem to be the case. The next DC film to be released seems to advertise its predecessor, the way SS directly referenced "Dawn of Justice" and the latter suggests events from "Man of Steel". These films are not promoted as being sequels of one another, so while their approach is releasing a set of standalone films, they are all interrelated more intimately in one world.
Where DC will be taking off, despite its blatant display of its shared universe, remains a mystery. The next film in line, "Wonder Woman", has taken place a century in the past before the events of "Dawn of Justice", according to Dawn. This will be the first DC film since "Man of Steel" that is purported to start in a clean slate.
