James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as heads of DC Studios, with Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham taking over as president and chief creative officer. Variety reports the pair, whom it describes as co-presidents, will return full time to creative work after four years running the comic book studio. Other outlets call their roles co-CEOs.
The timing is what makes it a surprise. According to Variety, Gunn and Safran had been named to David Ellison’s business leadership team at the newly renamed Skydance after Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed in October. That deal is also why DC now answers to a different set of bosses: Latcham will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
How the Gunn and Safran era ended up
Variety frames the duo’s tenure as a reset of DC’s comic book division that produced mixed commercial results. The numbers it cites show a studio that opened strongly and then lost momentum:
| Title | Release | Worldwide gross | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superman | Last summer | $618 million | Not stated |
| Supergirl | July | $126 million | $170 million |
| Clayface | This fall | $109 million | $44 million |
Variety calls Superman a relative success, Supergirl a massive bomb, and the R-rated body-horror thriller Clayface a modest performer. On the streaming side, Variety credits the pair with expanding DC to HBO Max through Peacemaker and Lanterns. Creature Commandos gets a mention in their own statement.
In that statement, Gunn and Safran said they set out four years ago to unite DC under one creative vision and are proud of the team that made it real. They also said they’re eager to see what Latcham brings, and that they want to return to “telling the stories we love”, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s story in Man of Tomorrow. Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said in a joint statement that the pair led DC through “a period of real transformation”, adding that they have complete confidence Gunn and Safran will ensure a smooth transition.
Who Jeremy Latcham is
Latcham knows the superhero business from the other side of the fence. Variety says he joined Marvel Studios in 2004 and rose to senior VP of production and development, working closely with Kevin Feige to launch the MCU. His credits include associate producer on Iron Man, co-producer on Iron Man 2, and executive producer on The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
He left in 2017 to found Latcham Pictures, which held first-look deals at 20th Century Fox, Hasbro and Wonder Project. Variety lists Bad Times at the El Royale and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves among its productions. More recently he held an overall deal at Hasbro Entertainment, where he was developing a Dungeons & Dragons sequel and an Action Man film, and producing Lionsgate’s Naruto adaptation with director Destin Daniel Cretton. Neither Variety nor the company statements say what happens to those projects now.
The personal connection to his predecessors is part of the pitch. Gunn and Safran said they share a creative history with Latcham going back to Marvel, and Ellison and Kreiz called him a longtime creative partner to both. Gunn and Latcham worked together on Guardians of the Galaxy, one of the executive producer credits in Latcham’s Variety profile.
At DC, Latcham will lead the film, television and animation slate. Variety says that covers the creative pipeline, production, talent and strategy. Goldberg and Greenstein said he’ll steer every film and show “through the prism” of the fans, while Latcham said he wants to work with filmmakers and comic book creators across all three formats. He called the job a “massive responsibility”.
What happens to the slate
The announcement doesn’t rip up the calendar. According to Variety, the upcoming DC projects include next summer’s Superman: Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn wrote and directs, and 2028’s The Batman: Part II with Robert Pattinson. A 2027 mini-series, The People v Gorilla Grodd, is also on the list, with Skyler Gisondo reprising Jimmy Olsen and Jimmy Tatro as Gorilla Grodd.
ComicBook.com reports, relaying The Hollywood Reporter, that Gunn will reportedly still finish and release Man of Tomorrow and stay involved with The People v. Gorilla Grodd. It adds that both men remain attached as producers on Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II. The Skydance statement says Gunn and Safran will “continue this work with care” during the handover, which suggests a hand-off rather than a clean break. It doesn’t say how long that lasts, and Variety’s report is still developing.
For fans, Man of Tomorrow now carries extra weight. It’s the first big DC release since the leadership change, and the next test of the connected universe Gunn and Safran built after Supergirl‘s weak run.
Who replaces James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios?
Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive, becomes president and chief creative officer of DC Studios. He’ll run the film, television and animation slate and report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
Will James Gunn still direct Superman: Man of Tomorrow?
Variety lists Gunn as writer and director of the film, which is due next summer, and he and Safran named it as the project they’re eager to return to. ComicBook.com reports he’ll still finish and release it.
Is The Batman: Part II affected?
According to Variety, the film is still listed for 2028 with Robert Pattinson. ComicBook.com reports that Gunn and Safran remain attached as producers.
