Skydance Replaces James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios With Marvel Veteran Jeremy Latcham

James Gunn and Peter Safran are out as the heads of DC Studios. Skydance announced the change Monday, Nov. 9, ahead of its third-quarter earnings report.

Jeremy Latcham, a Marvel Studios veteran, becomes president and chief creative officer on Dec. 1. He reports to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.

A surprise inside a fresh merger

The timing is what stands out. Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed in October, and the company is now branded Skydance. Gunn and Safran had been listed among the executives tapped to lead the combined business.

That made the exit unexpected. A late-October staff email laid out Skydance's leadership teams but did not include a DC Studios org chart.

Gunn and Safran were hired in October 2022 by then-Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Their mandate was to build a cohesive DC universe that could rival Marvel under Kevin Feige.

Skydance CEO David Ellison and Co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said in a joint statement that the pair "launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate we're incredibly proud of." The company's statement says Gunn and Safran will "return full time to their creative work." It does not give a reason for the change.

The record

The numbers are mixed.

• "Superman" (2025): more than $618 million worldwide. It was widely seen as a major boost after years of weak superhero results.
• "Supergirl" (summer 2026): $126.5 million worldwide on a reported $170 million budget, with lukewarm reviews. That is a flop by any standard.
• "Clayface" (October 2026): about $109 million worldwide on a reported budget of roughly $40 million to $44 million, depending on the outlet. It was a modest, cheap horror-leaning swing that has performed decently.

On streaming, the pair expanded the universe with "Peacemaker," "Creature Commandos" and "Lanterns" for HBO Max. Box office is not profit, and nobody outside the company has published a full ledger for the slate. But the second release in a four-year run losing money on its budget is the kind of result that gets an executive's attention.

Gunn's own framing is different. He wrote on Instagram that he was "incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking." He added: "I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job."

Gunn and Safran said in their own statement that they helped "restore Superman to the heart of DC." From the start, a prolific writer-director was an unusual pick for a corporate leadership job.

Who Latcham is

Latcham joined Marvel Studios in 2004 and worked closely with Feige. His credits include 2008's "Iron Man" and 2010's "Iron Man 2." He was an executive producer on 2012's "The Avengers" and 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

He left Marvel in 2017 to start Latcham Pictures. He also worked with Gunn and Safran on "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Goldberg and Greenstein said Latcham "brings a deep reverence for DC and its passionate fanbase."

What stays on the calendar

Gunn is not walking away from DC entirely. "Man of Tomorrow," the "Superman" sequel that he wrote and directed, is in post-production and due next summer. Safran produces it, and Gunn produces it too.

The pair will also produce "The Batman Part II," which is slated for 2028. That film, like "The Batman" and "The Penguin," sits outside the Gunn-built DCU.

The 2027 HBO series "The People v. Gorilla Grodd," with Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen and Jimmy Tatro as Grodd, is also on the schedule. Gunn said Monday that he is writing another DC project, and added that "the characters we set up will live on."

That leaves a wide-open question. Skydance has not said whether Latcham will keep the continuity Gunn established or reset it. Gunn and Safran have no DCU films currently shooting, which leaves the next boss with room to move in either direction.

The politics question

"Superman" drew a political fight in 2025 after Gunn described the hero as an immigrant and stressed human kindness. Some conservative commentators called the film "woke."

Ellison has cultivated close ties with President Donald Trump. He has said he has a good relationship with the administration and has denied politicizing the company.

There is no evidence that the "Superman" controversy played any role in the leadership change. Skydance's stated explanation is a leadership transition, and Gunn's is a return to filmmaking.

The next real data point is "Man of Tomorrow" next summer. It will be the first DC release Latcham inherits, and it will show whether Gunn's universe survives the handoff.

Latcham's first day is Dec. 1.