James Gunn Breaks Silence on His DC Studios Exit, Calls the Job Trying and Teases a New DC Project

James Gunn has never been shy about talking directly to fans, so it was no surprise that he took to social media within hours of leaving DC Studios. The ‘Superman’ filmmaker’s lengthy statement gives a candid look at how he felt about the job he held alongside producer Peter Safran.

Gunn and Safran took over as co-heads of DC Studios in late October 2022 and officially started on Nov. 1 of that year. At the time, the DC film side was floundering. Over the next 4 years they rebooted the superhero universe with ‘Superman’, ‘Supergirl’, ‘Clayface’ and the HBO series ‘Lanterns’.

That run ended on Monday, when Skydance announced that Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham would become president and chief creative officer of DC Studios. Gunn then explained how the last 4 years had really felt. He said only his closest people knew how trying the job had been, and that he disliked the at-times corporate nature of the work, crediting Safran with taking the brunt of it.

Gunn opened by thanking the people who supported him and Safran during their time leading the studio. He then went back to his roots, recalling that he grew up in Manchester, Missouri, writing and drawing his own comics that mixed DC characters with ones he invented. Getting full access to those characters, he said, was a dream come true.

He admitted he wasn’t sure he wanted the job when it was offered, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Looking back, he said he is glad he took it. For a filmmaker who got his start far from boardrooms, that is a notable bit of candor about a role few directors ever hold.

The highs, in his telling, were the people. He listed the DC Studios crew, his collaborators, the casts and crews of each project, and what he called the boisterous and hilarious fans. The best part of all, he added, was working with Safran, whom he described as the smartest and most competent person he knows.

The lows were more personal. Gunn said that as a filmmaker he could usually take short breaks to unwind, but as a studio head he gave up even that time, and his loved ones paid for it too. He offered a personal apology to Jenn, telling her not to feel guilty for being happy that he is no longer doing the job.

Consequence also notes that Gunn wrote about the difficulty of splitting his time. His ADHD hyperfocus, he said, struggled most with dividing attention between the projects he is passionate about and the many tasks that come with running a studio.

Despite the tone, Gunn made clear he is not walking away from the DC world entirely. He said he and Safran are not immediately done with DC or superheroes, and that they have just started on another DC project that he is writing. He added that they will see where it goes, and that the characters they set up will live on.

The official line from Skydance is that the pair will return to full-time creative work. Gunn is currently in post-production on ‘Man of Tomorrow’, the ‘Superman’ sequel set for July 9, 2027. He and Safran are also reported to remain producers on ‘The Batman Part II’, and executive producers on the HBO Max series ‘The People v. Gorilla Grodd’.

In a joint statement, Gunn and Safran said they set out to unite DC under one creative vision and helped restore Superman to the heart of the brand. They also pointed to the new doors they opened with ‘Peacemaker’, ‘Creature Commandos’, ‘Lanterns’ and ‘Clayface’. Skydance chiefs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz, for their part, praised the pair for launching a new era for DC Studios.

Not everyone is describing the shake-up as a voluntary move. Some outlets have framed it as an ouster, in part because earlier reports said Ellison wanted Gunn and Safran to stay on. Gunn’s own tone is noticeably more upbeat, and TVLine reports he sounded relieved and excited to return to pure filmmaking.

Either way, the handover reshapes the DCU just as its biggest test approaches. Latcham, who worked with Gunn on the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ trilogy, will now steer the studio’s film, television and animation slate, with his start date reported as Dec. 1. Gunn’s next big swing, ‘Man of Tomorrow’, arrives as the first major DC release of his post-executive era.

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