Let the madness begin. We’ve just learned that James Gunn and Peter Safran, who have been co-CEOs of DC Studios since 2023, are stepping down from their roles as of December 1. They’ll be replaced by Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive who helped Kevin Feige build that universe in the early days.
Gunn took to Threads to confirm the information and offer some thoughts. “What only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying to say the least,” Gunn’s statement reads in part. “I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years.” You can read the rest of it here.
“James and Peter launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate we’re incredibly proud of,” Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said in a statement received by the Hollywood Reporter. “We’re grateful for their passion, contributions and commitment to this legendary brand.”
Gunn also mentioned that he and Safran are not done with DC. “We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer, and we’ve just been engaged on another DC project which I’m writing, and we’ll see where it goes after that,” he said. “And, of course, the characters we set up will live on.”
That task, however, will now stay with Latcham. “DC’s pantheon of characters is among the most iconic in American popular culture,” Latcham said in a statement. “I’ve had the privilege to help bring some of the most celebrated superhero stories to life on the big screen, and I’m excited and honored for the opportunity to now lead DC Studios into its next era. The chance to steward the incredible cast of DC characters to the screen in a way that excites lifelong fans while introducing their timeless stories to the next generation is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly.”
What none of that gets to, however, is the truth of this situation. Mere weeks ago, Gunn and Safran were thought to be safe after the Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Gunn said as much in the press. So whether they were forced out or left voluntarily will be ripe for speculation over the coming months and years.
It also raises the question of what will happen with all the projects Gunn and Safran were working on. For example, Latcham will almost certainly want to make a Batman movie. And there’s one in production right now called The Batman Part II. Gunn and Safran were adamant that world would not cross over with theirs. Could that retroactively change, making Robert Pattinson’s Batman the DC Universe Batman? What about in-development titles like Swamp Thing? These, too, are all questions that will be answered in the coming months.
Gunn and Safran do, at least, give their blessing to whatever Latcham decides. “We’ve shared a creative history with Jeremy going back to Marvel, and we’re eager to see the perspective he brings to DC’s next chapter,” the pair said in a statement. “We’re excited to return to what drew us to this job in the first place, which is telling the stories we love, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in Man of Tomorrow.”
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