Photo by Erik Drost, cropped (CC BY)
James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-heads of DC Studios, and former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham will take over as president and chief creative officer, according to matching reports from The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Variety on Nov. 9, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Gunn and Safran are leaving their leadership posts at DC Studios effective Dec. 1, 2026, after about four years running the comic-book label.
- Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel SVP of production and development who worked with Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy, becomes president and chief creative officer.
- Latcham will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group — a change from the old setup in which Gunn and Safran reported to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
- Gunn and Safran say they will return to full-time creative work and stay involved as producers, including on the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow.
- Gunn wrote that he and Safran are not immediately done with DC or superheroes: Man of Tomorrow is out this summer, and they have been engaged on another DC project he is writing.
- Skydance chair/CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz framed the move as a transition after Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Full Story
The announcements landed the same morning Skydance was set to report third-quarter earnings, Deadline noted. The move surprised Hollywood observers because Gunn and Safran had been invited to stay after Paramount’s roughly $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed in October and were named among Ellison’s business leadership team.
THR’s Borys Kit reported that Ellison had previously told the duo to “keep doing what you’re doing,” and that Gunn told the outlet last month Ellison “knows everything” about their DC plans. Whether the pair chose to step back or were pushed out remains a live question in the coverage; the companies’ statements present a collaborative handoff.
Titles differ slightly across outlets — Deadline described Gunn and Safran as Co-CEOs and Chairman of DC Studios; Variety called them co-presidents; THR used co-CEOs — but all three agree they are leaving the top leadership jobs and that Latcham is the successor as president and chief creative officer starting Dec. 1.
What Skydance and the Duo Said
Ellison and Kreiz said Gunn and Safran “launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation,” adding that Latcham “has been a longtime creative partner to both” and that they expect a “smooth, collaborative transition.”
Gunn and Safran, in a joint statement carried by Deadline, Variety and IndieWire, said: “Four years ago, we set out to unite DC under one creative vision. In that time, we helped restore Superman to the heart of DC, while opening new doors and telling new stories in film and television with Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, Lanterns and Clayface.” They said they share a creative history with Latcham going back to Marvel and are “excited to return to what drew us to this job in the first place,” including “the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in Man of Tomorrow.”
Gunn’s personal statement
Gunn also posted a four-part personal statement on Threads (also shared on Instagram). In it, Gunn wrote that the studio-head role had been “trying, to say the least,” that he and Safran are not immediately done with DC, that Man of Tomorrow is out this summer, and that they have been engaged on another DC project he is writing.
Gunn posted a four-part statement on Threads (also shared on Instagram). Swipe or use Prev/Next.
Statement posted by James Gunn (screenshots of his four-part statement as shared)
Read the full statement (text)
Oh, boy. What a four years.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me and Peter in our time as the heads of DC Studios.
When I was a kid growing up in Manchester, Missouri, I used to write and draw my own comics with a mix of DC Comics characters and my own characters. Having full access to these characters to do whatever we wanted has been a dream come true. I didn’t know if I wanted this job when it was offered to me, but I just couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity. I’m glad I took the job.
There have been so many highs along the way – releasing Superman and Clayface, making Peacemaker, reading the scripts to The People Vs, the entire process of Man of Tomorrow, which thus far has been the best filmmaking experience of my life, and numerous other moments.
The highest of the highs have been all the talented and wonderful people I’ve worked with and grown to love: the DC Studios crew, our talented collaborators, our casts and crews, and the boisterous and hilarious fans. And the best part of all has been working with Peter Safran, the smartest and most competent person I know. You’ve been the best partner a person could ask for, and, more so, a truly good friend.
But what only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I’m sorry and you don’t need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I’m no longer doing this job). And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head.
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.
That’s not to say Peter and I are immediately done with DC or superheroes. We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer. And we’ve just been engaged on another DC project which I’m writing, and we’ll see where it goes after that. And, of course, the characters we set up will live on.
Thank you so very, very much for embracing the characters and stories we’ve put on screen.
Love and gratitude,
James Gunn
Latcham said DC’s characters are “among the most iconic in American popular culture” and that stewarding them for lifelong fans and a new generation “is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly.” Goldberg and Greenstein said every film and show under his leadership will be “ushered from start to finish through the prism of the legions of fans who love and champion it.”
The Slate Latcham Inherits
Under Gunn and Safran, DC rebooted its film universe with Superman (about $618 million worldwide, per Deadline and Variety), then struggled with Supergirl (about $126 million against a reported mid–to–high nine-figure budget). Clayface, a lower-budget R-rated body-horror entry, was reported at about $109 million worldwide. Streaming titles cited across the reports include Peacemaker, Lanterns, The Penguin and the animated Creature Commandos.
Still ahead, per the same outlets and Gunn’s statement: Gunn’s Superman: Man of Tomorrow (in post; Gunn wrote it is out this summer), Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II (with Steven Soderbergh helping finish), and the 2027 HBO Max mini-series The People v. Gorilla Grodd. What survives of the broader “Gods and Monsters” plan — including previously buzzed projects such as a Swamp Thing film or Waller — will be Latcham’s call with Goldberg and Greenstein.
Latcham joined Marvel Studios in 2004 and rose to senior VP of production and development alongside Kevin Feige. Credits cited in the reports include associate or executive producing work on Iron Man, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spider-Man: Homecoming. After leaving Marvel in 2017 he produced Bad Times at the El Royale and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
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