Frank Grillo Thanks Gunn and Safran After DC Exit

Photo by Gage Skidmore, cropped (CC BY-SA)

Frank Grillo posted a video to his Instagram account, @frankgrillo1, on Nov. 11, thanking James Gunn and Peter Safran after they were replaced as the co-heads of DC Studios. We opened the original post. In the caption, he wrote, “Thank you for what has been and incredibly creative and fun journey brothers. Excited to see what we’re doing next as you’ll never ever rid yourselves of me.”

The featured image is Frank Grillo speaking at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2025, not a still from the Instagram video.

The Lowdown

Grillo has played Rick Flag Sr. for Gunn and Safran across Creature Commandos, Peacemaker, Superman, and the forthcoming Man of Tomorrow. The video is a personal thank-you, not a studio statement. Skydance replaced Gunn and Safran on Monday with Jeremy Latcham; they are still finishing Man of Tomorrow and Season 2 of Creature Commandos.

Key Takeaways

Grillo posted the video on Nov. 11 to his Instagram account, @frankgrillo1. We opened the original post and have embedded it below.
The caption, quoted from that post, thanks Gunn and Safran and says, “you’ll never ever rid yourselves of me.”
In the video, he called them “two of the finest men that I’ve met in this business,” and said the work from Creature Commandos through Man of Tomorrow had been “extraordinary” and “a gift.”
Gunn and Safran were replaced as DC Studios co-CEOs on Monday. They are still scheduled to finish Man of Tomorrow and Creature Commandos Season 2.
He closed by thanking “you boys” and saying he looks forward to what they do next.

Frank Grillo on Instagram, Nov. 11, 2026

The Full Story

The Original Post

The original post is a video on Grillo’s Instagram, dated Nov. 11, under the handle @frankgrillo1. We opened that post before writing this story. The written caption, quoted as it appears there, reads: “Thank you for what has been and incredibly creative and fun journey brothers. Excited to see what we’re doing next as you’ll never ever rid yourselves of me. love you both immensely. thank you @jamesgunn & #PeterSafran.” The spoken remarks in the video are quoted here from Jordan Moreau’s Variety report, published later the same day, which matches the video we opened.

What He Said in the Video

In the video, Grillo said, “I feel like now that the dust has settled a bit and every jerkoff with an Instagram handle has an opinion, I just wanted to publicly thank two of the finest men that I’ve met in this business in Peter Safran and James Gunn, two of the most loyal guys, two of the most passionate and loving and creative human beings that I’ve had the pleasure and the honor of getting to work with.” He added that working with them on Creature Commandos, Peacemaker, Superman, and Man of Tomorrow had been “extraordinary” and “a gift.”

He went on, “These two gentlemen are an example of what class and what men are really capable of in Hollywood. Whether you like their movies or not is irrelevant to me, but on a personal level, there just aren’t two better human beings that I’ve come across. I consider both of them dear, dear friends. I would even pick Peter up at the airport. Maybe not James, but Peter definitely. I want to thank you boys and I look forward to what we’re gonna do next.”

Where This Sits After Monday

Grillo’s comments come two days after Skydance replaced Gunn and Safran as the co-heads of DC Studios, a change we covered in our original report and in a later piece on what Jeremy Latcham is said to have been asked to do first. Gunn and Safran are still finishing Man of Tomorrow, due next summer, and Season 2 of Creature Commandos. Grillo began the Flag role in the animated series, then appeared in live action in Peacemaker Season 2 and Superman. The Instagram video does not announce a new project. It is a public thank-you, and a promise that, in his words, they will not be rid of him. More movie coverage is on our Movies & Hollywood page.