DC Studios leadership change Jeremy Latcham replaces James Gunn and Peter Safran, Digi Mart USA News: For the second time in four years, DC Comics’ turbulent film and TV empire is getting a change in leadership. Just 33 days after Skydance took control of DC Studios with the Warner Bros.
acquisition, creative chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran are being replaced by Jeremy Latcham, one of Kevin Feige’s key lieutenants in establishing the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When announcing the change, Skydance CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz were complimentary of Gunn and Safran’s stewardship. However, three people with knowledge of their ouster said the move blindsided the pair, who were informed of their removal less than 24 hours before it was announced.
Two additional insiders disputed that claim and said the pair were told on Friday.
Insiders say Ellison had been quietly planning the change for some time. According to the report, he had been in quiet talks with Latcham to take over at DC for more than a month before the Paramount-Warner Bros.
merger closed on Oct. 6. Safran was present at a Skydance press event marking the merger’s completion, and Gunn was also prominently listed as part of the executive leadership team.
Latcham will now work alongside Skydance film chiefs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg to forge a new creative direction for DC Studios, just 16 months after Gunn and Safran launched their vision for the DC Universe with “Superman.” That film was followed by a series of well-received streaming shows and two theatrical follow-ups that have failed to match the box office success of the summer 2025 release.
The vision was meant to be the first chapter of a new saga called “Gods and Monsters.” Now Skydance must decide whether to write the next chapter or start anew. The debt-laden company is also under pressure to fulfill its promise of 30 films per year with dependable theatrical hits.
Gunn and Safran’s universe had several pricey tentpole films planned in the next few years, following the “Superman” sequel “Man of Tomorrow,” which is already in post-production.
A fourth insider pointed to a quote from Ellison taken during Skydance’s employee town hall that, according to the insider, captures the reason behind the shakeup: “We are not here to preserve the status quo. We are here to build for what comes next.” Skydance declined to comment beyond the statements made by studio leadership when the change was announced.
Latcham was part of the founding core of Marvel Studios under Feige and worked on cornerstone MCU films including “Iron Man,” “The Avengers” and Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” outings. He helped shepherd Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” and was part of the braintrust that helped hatch “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
He left Marvel in 2017 for a production deal at 20th Century Fox, where his first film as an independent producer was the Chris Hemsworth-led “Bad Times at El Royale.” The mystery, from writer-director Drew Goddard, grossed just $32 million worldwide but received positive reviews. Latcham later produced Paramount’s “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” in 2023 and most recently was behind Nate Bargatze’s feature film debut “The Breadwinner” for Sony.
Ellison gets an executive intimately familiar with how Feige built the Marvel Cinematic Universe and with first-hand experience producing massive films. Latcham is also perhaps not as creatively demanding as a filmmaker like Gunn would be in the executive role.
A key structural change is that Latcham will report to Skydance film heads Greenstein and Goldberg, whereas Gunn and Safran reported directly to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav.
One part of Gunn and Safran’s legacy as executives that is likely to endure is the structural change they made after being hired by Zaslav in 2022. Instead of having DC’s film, television, comics and other ancillary media divisions spread across Warner Bros.’ corporate landscape, they brought everything under one roof at DC Studios, allowing the franchise to work as a cohesive unit.
That unification will be valuable to Goldberg and Greenstein, as DC Studios is one of nine labels they must bring up to speed with consistent theatrical output.
Early signs suggested Gunn’s approach to universe building, still in its early stages, was not resonating with moviegoers. “Superman” was regarded as the heart and soul of DC, and conventional wisdom suggested the next films would focus on other A-list Justice League members such as Wonder Woman or Green Lantern.
Instead, “Gods and Monsters” largely spotlighted lesser-known and obscure characters, the approach that originally won Gunn the job, though the HBO series “Lanterns” was well received and averaged 19.3 million viewers.
Gunn’s “Superman” was a solid start to the rebooted timeline with a $618 million global total. Its summer 2026 follow-up “Supergirl” was a box office disappointment, grossing $126 million worldwide in a year full of underperformers for Warner Bros.
Reports also described creative tension between Gunn and his handpicked director Craig Gillespie, and Gunn did not mention “Supergirl” in his farewell-to-DC message on Monday.
Gunn and Safran’s exit comes two weeks after the third “Gods and Monsters” film, “Clayface,” hit theaters. It has grossed $109 million worldwide through three weekends against a $40 million budget, a respectable showing that apparently is not what Skydance wants from the franchise.
One producer told TheWrap that Gunn seemed focused on the corniness of 1950s DC, adding, “I don’t think people wanted cornball.”
Insiders said it is not yet clear how DC’s creative direction will change under Latcham, but two broader changes are expected. The first is a much quieter social media presence than Gunn maintained.
Latcham is more likely to follow the example of Feige, who has kept out of the spotlight aside from premieres, Comic-Con showcases and occasional tightly controlled interviews. Latcham deleted all of his X posts and locked down his account ahead of the announcement.
Insiders also expect Latcham, under Ellison’s mandate, to bring the Justice League back to the big screen as soon as possible, with films for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and other major heroes. He will also need to resolve the future of Batman.
Matt Reeves’ “The Batman: Part II” is in production with the assistance of Steven Soderbergh, who finished filming in London after Reeves had to return home for a personal matter. Gunn had said Reeves’ Robert Pattinson films would not be part of the same continuity as the rest of the DC Universe.
It remains to be seen how much of the storytelling foundation Gunn and Safran laid will be built upon. “Man of Tomorrow” was meant to introduce more heroes, including Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle and a mystery character Adria Arjona plays that many expect to be revealed as Wonder Woman.
As of now, “Man of Tomorrow” is the only DC film on the release calendar, and no other films under Gunn and Safran had been publicly greenlit, although Gunn said Monday he had been tasked with writing an upcoming DC movie that may or may not still happen.
Whatever decision Latcham and the Skydance leadership make could determine whether the unified Paramount-Warner slate has a reliable source of tentpole hits or faces a difficult challenge.
