James Gunn and Peter Safran Shockingly Exit DC Studios as a Marvel Veteran Seizes the Throne

Few filmmakers ever get handed the keys to an entire studio, yet that is what happened to James Gunn when he and producer Peter Safran took over DC Studios in late 2022. Then-Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav tapped the pair to build a connected DC universe across film, television and animation. Gunn steered the creative side while Safran handled business and production.

The four-year run delivered a mix of wins and wobbles. ‘Superman’ grossed more than $618 million worldwide and became Warner Bros.’ second-biggest release of its year. HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ has also been described as a big hit, and ‘Peacemaker’ continued the pair’s TV push. Commercial results across the slate were uneven, though, and the studio’s future got murkier once Paramount moved in on Warner Bros.

As recently as early October, a shake-up looked unlikely. Reports said Paramount boss David Ellison met Gunn and Safran in person and told them to stay the course, with Ellison described as supportive of their plans. That reassurance has now evaporated.

Gunn and Safran are stepping down from their leadership posts at DC Studios. The announcement came under Skydance, the renamed company created after Paramount’s roughly $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed in October. Variety called the exit unexpected, since the pair had been named as part of Ellison’s leadership team at the new company.

Taking over is Jeremy Latcham, who becomes president and chief creative officer of DC Studios. IndieWire reports his start date as Dec. 1. Latcham was part of the founding core of Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige, with credits that include ‘Iron Man’, ‘The Avengers’ and Tom Holland’s ‘Spider-Man’ films.

He also worked with Gunn on the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trilogy. That shared history helps explain the tone of the handover. Gunn and Safran gave Latcham their blessing and said they are eager to see the perspective he brings to DC’s next chapter.

Latcham will lead DC’s film, television and animation slate, overseeing the creative pipeline, production, talent and strategy. Ellison and his co-CEO Ynon Kreiz praised the outgoing duo for launching a new era at DC Studios and guiding it through a period of real change. They also pledged to build the next generation of DC storytelling and double down on their commitment to fans.

Gunn and Safran are not leaving the DC family entirely. They will return to full-time creative work and keep producing on various DC projects. In a statement carried by Deadline, the pair said they are excited to “return to what drew us to this job in the first place,” pointing to the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s story.

Gunn is currently in post-production on ‘Man of Tomorrow’, the ‘Superman’ sequel set for release on July 9, 2027. Beyond that, the slate includes ‘The Batman Part II’ with Robert Pattinson in 2028, and the 2027 mini-series ‘The People v Gorilla Grodd’, anchored by Skyler Gisondo as Superman. The lower-budget horror release ‘Clayface’ has also arrived, opening to $24 million at the box office.

The timing is a twist for anyone who had been tracking the studio’s leadership. Bloomberg reported last December that the executives’ contracts had been extended to spring 2027, which fueled talk that Gunn’s tenure might run through the ‘Man of Tomorrow’ release. Instead, the change arrives months earlier, with his own sequel still in the editing room.

There is also the matter of who answers to whom in the new corporate structure. Reports in early October said Paramount’s Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein were set to oversee the combined film units, while Warner Bros. film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were on their way out. How Latcham fits into that chain of command has not been spelled out in the coverage available so far.

For fans, the biggest question is how much of the Gunn-era blueprint survives. The shared-universe approach, the commitment to ‘Superman’ and the connected TV and film slate were all his and Safran’s vision. Latcham’s Marvel background suggests a producer’s eye for long-term franchise planning, but his own plans for DC have not been detailed yet.

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