James Gunn was reportedly in the middle of writing a third Superman film, with a plan to release a new one every two years, when Skydance ended his run at DC Studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources say Gunn was writing a third installment as part of a trilogy plan, “maybe even morphing the franchise into a Justice League teamup.” None of it has been confirmed or cancelled by the studio.
The reveal lands a day after the shake-up itself. Skydance Motion Picture Group announced on Monday that Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-chief executives after four years leading DC Studios. Former Marvel Studios producer Jeremy Latcham will take over on 1 December, overseeing DC’s film, television and animation slate, Skydance said in a statement. THR reports the details of the exit, including a visit from Skydance’s David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz to Gunn and Safran’s offices on 6 November, where the pair were told that, despite earlier assurances, the new owners had changed their plans.
The trilogy plan isn’t the only roadmap in circulation. As relayed by Yahoo, Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Fritz wrote in a post on X that Gunn and Safran were debuting Wonder Woman in Man of Tomorrow, hoped to introduce the DCU Batman in The Brave and the Bold in 2028, and were aiming for Gunn-directed Superman sequels that low-key evolved into Justice League in 2029 and 2031. The dates are reported targets, not announced ones. Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel Gunn has already filmed, is due in July 2027.
What happens next is unclear. Yahoo’s summary of a newsletter from Matt Belloni, a former THR journalist, says plans are already afoot to dismantle much of what Gunn and Safran plotted beyond Man of Tomorrow, the currently shooting The Batman: Part 2 and an in-the-works HBO series. That would leave the Superman trilogy and any Justice League film without a home, though Skydance hasn’t said so.
THR ties the decision partly to money and partly to taste. The report says Skydance viewed Supergirl as a disaster, which IGN puts at $126.4 million worldwide. Even Superman, which grossed $618 million worldwide and was profitable, didn’t have the pop culture impact the new regime expected. IGN says Clayface has made $109 million and calls it a success given its low cost. THR’s sources also describe Latcham as better suited to films “more in line with Ellison’s broader tastes”, which cuts against Gunn’s appetite for genre gambles.
Gunn himself sounded relieved in his statement to fans. He wrote that he’s “incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking.” He added that he and Safran have just been engaged on another DC project he’s writing, and that “the characters we set up will live on.” Whether that project is Superman 3 or something else, he didn’t say.
Has Skydance cancelled the third Superman film or the Justice League movie?
No. Neither Skydance nor DC Studios has said whether the third Superman film, the Justice League team-up or The Brave and the Bold will go ahead. The plans come from THR’s sources and a WSJ reporter, and Latcham doesn’t take over until 1 December.
When does Man of Tomorrow come out?
Reports put the release in July 2027, and Gunn has already wrapped production. It’s the one DC film in this story that Gunn has finished, so it’s the first test of what the new leadership does with his work.
Will Gunn still be involved with DC?
Gunn says he and Safran are working on another DC project that he’s writing. He didn’t name it or say what happens after.
