James Gunn Announces Surprise Departure as Co-Head of DC Studios
Superman (2025) director surprises the world by stepping away from co-leading DC Studios on December 1st, according to a report first published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Over the past 4 years of running the studio, James Gunn and his co-CEO, Peter Safran, have revitalized the DC movie franchise. This includes a series of hit Movies and TV shows, such as Superman (2025), Creature Commandos (2024), the second season of Peacemaker (2022), The Penguin (2024), Lanterns (2026), and Clayface (2026). The sole exception is Supergirl (2026), which fell short of both commercial and critical expectations.
Skydance Corporation, DC Studios’ parent company, has selected Jeremy Latcham to helm the studio. Latcham worked at Marvel from 2008 to 2014, on films such as Iron Man (2008), The Avengers (2012), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). He also worked with Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), the film that made Gunn a superhero movie juggernaut.
Now, many reacted to this news with complete bemusement. Considering both the positive reaction this new DC universe has garnered over the past few years and the fact that, after all the shake-ups during the Skydance and Warner Bros. merger, many thought Gunn and Peter Safran’s roles were safe. Especially since the terms of their contract weren’t set to expire till April of next year; however, the decision was made, for the most part, on Gunnʻs own terms.
“The past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least,” Gunn mentioned in an Instagram message shortly after the news broke. “I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that)… So, yes, I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking”
So it seems that Executive work was something Gunn could tolerate for so long, and he just wants to go back to making stories with his own two hands.
Now Gunn isnʻt ungrateful for the time he spent leading DC Studios. In his post, he praises the many talented creatives he worked with there and is pleased with how most of his projects have turned out. But found it hard to focus between the projects that he is “incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head”
Now thats not to say that he is done with DC altogether. He is still working on the finishing touches for Man of Tomorrow (2027), coming out next year, as well as producing the TV show The People v. Gorilla Grodd (2027) and Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II (2028). He hinted before that he has another DC script in the pipeline that he is involved with but in a non-executive capacity.
Still, we have to see how Latcham steps up to the plate come December first. Because while they werenʻt worn for long, Latcham has big shoes to fill.
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