In a shocking move, Skydance has fired DC Studios’ heads, James Gunn and Peter Safran, following the company’s US$110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, replacing the role with former Marvel Studios producer Jeremy Latcham.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the duo will step down from their roles on 1 December 2026 after four years of leading the studio since it replaced DC Films in late 2022. This news comes as even more of a surprise since previous reports had stated that the pair were safe in their roles DC Studios’ co-CEOs and chairmen despite the merger.
During their time leading DC Studios, Gunn and Safran have released three movies in the rebooted DC Universe, including 2025’s Superman starring David Corenswet, 2026’s Supergirl starring Milly Alcock, and the recently released villain origin story Clayface. In addition, the studio also worked on three live-action TV shows – 2024’s The Penguin, 2025’s Peacemaker Season 2, and this year’s Lanterns.
Even though the pair have been removed from their roles, they will still be involved with a few upcoming projects, including 2027’s Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn directed, alongside the mockumentary crime drama series The People v. Gorilla Grodd. Gunn and Safran will also remain as producers on The Batman: Part II. The duo had also previously laid out an ambitious 10-year plan for the DC Universe to build a single cohesive story similar to Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga, with its planned first phase titled Gods and Monsters, but with their departure, it remains to be seen if these plans will ever materialise.
“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,” Gunn and Safran said in a joint statement. “We’re immensely proud of the team that turned that ambition into something real, including the actors, crews and executives we had the opportunity to collaborate with.”
Meanwhile, the role of DC Studios head will now be taken on by Latcham, who was one of Marvel’s earliest employees and often referred to as the protégé of studio president Kevin Feige. His credits include Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
According to Skydance, Latcham will head DC’s film, television, and animation projects, and oversee creative, production, talent and strategy aspects. He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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