Superman gets a new boss at DC Studios, with James Gunn stepping down
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DC Studios’ co-chairman and co-CEO James Gunn attends the premiere of Clayface in Los Angeles, California, on Oct 13, 2026.
PHOTO: AFP
- Skydance has replaced James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios. Former Marvel producer Jeremy Latcham will take over on Dec 1 and oversee film, television and animation.
- The move follows Skydance’s US$110 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery and more leadership changes. Gunn and Safran were appointed in 2022 to build DC into a stronger rival to Marvel.
- Gunn and Safran had mixed results, with Superman earning over US$618 million and Clayface doing well, but Supergirl underperforming. They are still finishing Man of Tomorrow, due in cinemas on July 9, 2027.
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LOS ANGELES - Skydance is shaking up the leadership of DC Studios, replacing director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran at the helm of the studio that is home to some of the best-known superhero franchises.
Former Marvel Studios producer Jeremy Latcham will take over on Dec 1, overseeing DC’s film, television and animation slate, Skydance said in a statement.
The surprise exit of Gunn and Safran is the latest executive shake-up at Warner Bros since Skydance completed its US$110 billion (S$140 billion) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery on Oct 6.
Co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios Peter Safran (left) and James Gunn at the premiere of Clayface on Oct 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
PHOTO: AFP
Warner Bros Motion Picture Group’s co-chairs, Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, were ousted after the deal closed.
Gunn and Safran were installed as co-chairmen of DC Studios in 2022, as Warner Bros sought to emulate the success of Walt Disney’s Marvel Studios.
The duo laid out an ambitious, 10-year plan for revitalising the studio through films and series.
“When we took the job, obviously the goal was to turn DC into the crown jewel that we knew it deserved to be,” Safran once told Businessweek. “We literally only started scratching the surface.”
Gunn and Safran oversaw the production and release of Superman, which earned more than US$618 million in global box office proceeds, though the follow-up, Supergirl, underperformed.
James Gunn (left) and David Corenswet on the set of Superman.
PHOTO: WBEI
In television, they produced the acclaimed HBO series, Lanterns, based on a DC Comics character first introduced in 1940.
Most recently, Gunn and Safran delivered Clayface, which received generally positive reviews and has grossed more than US$109 million worldwide.
They are finishing production on the Superman sequel Man Of Tomorrow, which reaches theaters on July 9, 2027.
The DC Studio executives were expected to continue in their roles at Skydance. However, Gunn wrote in an Instagram post that he disliked “the at-times corporate nature of the job”.
“I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-creator of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure film-making,” Gunn wrote, adding that he and Safran have been engaged with another DC project. “We’ll see where it goes after that.”
Their successor, Latcham, was part of the team that created Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, rising from an associate producer on Iron Man to executive producer on The Avengers, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Gunn’s first Guardians Of The Galaxy film.
Jeremy Latcham attends the premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in London, Britain, on March 23, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Latcham left Marvel in 2017 and became an independent producer, whose credits include Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
Upcoming DC Studios projects include The Batman Part II, starring Robert Pattinson, which is in production. Steven Soderbergh is helping finish principal photography on the film while director Matt Reeves attends to a family matter, with Gunn and Safran producing. BLOOMBERG