James Gunn Steps Down From DC Studios: Why He and Peter Safran Are Leaving and What Happens Next

James Gunn is stepping down as co-CEO of DC Studios. Skydance Motion Picture Group announced on Monday, November 9, that Gunn and producing partner Peter Safran will leave the leadership roles they have held for four years, and that Marvel Studios veteran Jeremy Latcham will take over as president and chief creative officer. The change takes effect on December 1, 2026.

The announcement surprised the industry because Skydance had said only weeks earlier that the pair would stay on as part of its leadership team after the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger closed. Gunn has since explained his side on social media, saying he wants to return to making films full time, while Skydance has framed the move as the start of a new chapter for the studio. Reports about how the decision came about differ, and this article lays out what each side has said.

• Gunn and Safran step down as DC Studios co-CEOs and co-chairmen effective December 1, 2026
• Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios producer, becomes president and chief creative officer
• Gunn says the job cost him the breaks he used to take as a filmmaker and pulled him away from projects he loves
• Gunn is still writing and directing Man of Tomorrow, which opens July 9, 2027, and is writing another DC project
• The Wall Street Journal describes the move as an ousting, while Skydance says the two are stepping down

What Skydance announced

In a joint statement, Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said Gunn and Safran “launched a new era for DC Studios” and led it through a period of transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate the company is proud of. They added that they look forward to working with Latcham on the next generation of DC storytelling. The statement also expressed confidence that Gunn and Safran would ensure a smooth transition and continue their work on the studio’s projects with care.

Latcham, who worked with Gunn on the Guardians of the Galaxy films at Marvel Studios, was one of that company’s earliest employees and became a close collaborator of Kevin Feige. His credits include Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spider-Man: Homecoming. He said in a statement that the chance to steward DC’s characters to the screen in a way that excites lifelong fans while introducing the stories to a new generation is a responsibility he takes seriously.

The structure around DC is also changing. According to the Wall Street Journal, Latcham will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who run film for Skydance. Under Warner Bros. Discovery, DC Studios operated as a self-contained division, and Gunn and Safran answered directly to the CEO of the parent company.

Why James Gunn says he is leaving

Gunn addressed the decision directly in a post on social media and gave two reasons. The first is time. He wrote that as a filmmaker he had always been able to take short breaks to unwind, and that over the past four years he had “stolen even that from both myself and my loved ones.” The second is focus. He said his ADHD hyperfocus had made it difficult to divide his time between projects he is passionate about and the many tasks that come with running a studio.

In a joint statement given to Variety, Gunn and Safran said they were proud of the team that turned their original ambition into something real, including the actors, crews and executives they worked with. They said they are eager to return to the stories they love, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in Man of Tomorrow, and that they share a creative history with Latcham that goes back to Marvel. Gunn also said he and Safran are working on another DC project that he is writing.

The framing suggests a return to creative work and not a break with DC. Variety reported that after four years leading the studio, the pair will go back to creative work full time, and the DC statements point to continued collaboration on at least two projects.

The business backdrop: a new owner and a surprise

The departure follows a change in ownership. Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at about $111 billion, closed in October and put DC Studios under Skydance, the company led by Ellison. Skydance announced in early October that Gunn and Safran would keep their co-chair positions in the leadership lineup of the combined company, which is why Variety described their exit as unexpected.

Coverage of how the decision was reached is not uniform. Skydance’s announcement and the statements from Gunn and Safran use the language of stepping down. The Wall Street Journal reported that Skydance is removing the pair and described the move as an ouster, and Variety’s headline said the two were out. SuperHeroHype noted that it remains unclear whether the duo was pushed during the takeover or chose to leave on their own, and SlashFilm observed that something appears to have changed in recent weeks. Deadline added that word had circulated that Safran’s contract was due to expire in the spring, and MovieWeb reported that the exit comes about six months earlier than expected. None of these accounts has been confirmed by the parties involved beyond their public statements.

How DC Studios performed under Gunn and Safran

Gunn and Safran were appointed in 2022 to reset a division that had long struggled to match Marvel, and they launched the DC Universe with Superman in July 2025. The film grossed about $618 million worldwide and earned strong reviews. It was followed by Peacemaker season two and the animated series Creature Commandos, and by HBO’s Lanterns, which Deadline described as a viewership success.

The theatrical record since then is mixed. Supergirl, released this past summer, earned roughly $126.4 million worldwide against a net production cost that Deadline put at $186 million, and it was widely seen as a disappointment. Clayface, an R-rated body-horror film made for a much lower net cost of about $44 million according to Deadline, has earned more than $109 million worldwide, according to Bloomberg. Variety summarized the tenure as one of mixed commercial results, and Kotaku noted that the studio had released only three DC Universe films and three television shows when the leadership change was announced.

Readers who want the longer history behind that pressure can find it in Every Movie Plug’s feature Behind the Cape: Why DC Struggled to Match Marvel’s Cinematic Empire, and the tonal risk behind the studio’s latest release is explained in Clayface: How DC Is Using Body Horror to Reshape the Comic Book Movie.

What happens to the DC slate

The most immediate question is what Latcham will keep. Bloomberg reported that Gunn and Safran laid out a ten-year plan for the studio, and the Wall Street Journal said one of Latcham’s first tasks will be to decide whether to discard that road map or retain parts of it. Their fingerprints will remain on DC for some time because of the number of projects already in production.

The one feature in active development is Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn is writing and directing and which opens on July 9, 2027. It pits Superman against Brainiac while forcing him to work with Lex Luthor, and it includes characters introduced elsewhere in the DCU such as Aaron Pierre’s Green Lantern and Milly Alcock’s Supergirl. Gunn’s statement indicates that he remains committed to it. Projects that had been announced for after that film include The Brave and the Bold, Mister Miracle and The People v. Gorilla Grodd. Some fans have speculated about whether the Batman film will proceed, but no cancellation has been announced.

Several open questions on the slate were already in motion before the announcement. Gunn told a DC Studios podcast in late October that the DCU’s Batman was not cast yet and that casting was not far away, comments Every Movie Plug summarized in James Gunn on DC Casting. In the same run of interviews he said Harley Quinn would almost certainly return, with Margot Robbie’s involvement undecided, as covered in Gunn’s Harley Quinn comments. Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II, which stars Robert Pattinson, sits outside the DCU, a detail noted in Every Movie Plug’s report on Pattinson’s reported James Bond screen test.

On television, HBO’s Lanterns had not been renewed for a second season as of mid-October, and Safran had promised an answer by the end of the year, as explained in HBO Lanterns Season 2 Is Not Greenlit Yet. That decision now falls to a leadership team that begins work on December 1. DC’s adult animated Mister Miracle series with Josh Hutcherson and Mackenzie Davis and John Cena’s uncertainty about Peacemaker’s link to Man of Tomorrow are other threads that the new leadership will inherit.

A timeline of the Gunn and Safran era

• October 2022: Gunn and Safran are named to lead DC’s film, television and animation operations, with DC Studios formed in the following weeks.
• July 2025: Superman launches the DC Universe and grosses about $618 million worldwide.
• Summer 2026: Supergirl opens and earns roughly $126.4 million worldwide.
• Early October 2026: Skydance says Gunn and Safran will keep their roles after the merger.
• October 23, 2026: Clayface opens as DC Studios’ first horror film.
• November 9, 2026: Skydance announces that Gunn and Safran are stepping down and names Latcham.
• December 1, 2026: The leadership change takes effect.

What the change means for Gunn’s career

Gunn rose to prominence as the writer and director behind Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequels, and the DC role pulled him away from the hands-on filmmaking that made his name. Both of his explanations point toward a return to that work, and the studio’s statement describes him as continuing to collaborate with the team. SlashFilm described the move as one that returns Gunn to being a filmmaker first. For fans of his Marvel work, the decision also echoes the creative partnership with Latcham that began with Guardians, and the character most closely tied to that era is explored in Every Movie Plug’s report on Chris Pratt’s comments about Star-Lord’s return.

Marvel’s own plans are moving as well, with the studio recently confirming its X-Men cast, so the superhero field Latcham returns to is a crowded one. For more coverage of studio decisions and casting, visit the Film News section, and for longer features on franchises and the people who run them, see the articles section. The studio’s forthcoming releases are also listed in Most Anticipated Movies of 2027.

What happens next

The leadership change takes effect on December 1, and Latcham is expected to begin reviewing the slate then. Gunn’s immediate focus is finishing Man of Tomorrow for its July 2027 release. Skydance has not announced any cancellations, and it has not said which projects will move forward under the new structure. More details are likely to emerge as Latcham settles into the role and as the studio responds to questions about the Batman casting, the Lanterns decision and the long-term plan.

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