James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-CEOs of DC Studios, Skydance Motion Picture Group announced on Monday. The leadership change ends a run of about four years at the helm of the studio's superhero franchise, and it places former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latchman in charge as president and chief creative officer.
The exit follows Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which brought the DC Studios operation under new ownership. Gunn and Safran had led the studio through its reboot of the DC film universe, beginning with Superman (2025), their first DC film as leaders. That film grossed $618.7 million worldwide, the strongest result of their tenure so far.
The studio's more recent releases have been less successful. Supergirl flopped at the box office in 2026, while Clayface has grossed about $109 million to date. Those numbers have fueled a broader debate among critics about how the studio performed under the pair's leadership and whether the rebooted DC continuity can hold together under new management.
Latchman brings a long background in the Marvel system. He worked on Iron Man, The Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy before leaving Marvel in 2017 to form his own production company. In his new role he reports to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, and the changeover takes effect December 1.
Several projects remain in the pipeline. Man of Tomorrow is in post-production and is due in 2027. The People v. Gorilla Grodd is reportedly well into filming, and The Batman Part II is also upcoming. It remains unclear whether Skydance will keep Gunn's planned DCU slate intact under the new leadership, and that question sits at the center of the debate over where the franchise goes next.
For Gunn, the change opens a path back to the work that defined much of his career before he took on the studio's top job. He has said he wants to return to writing and directing. Safran's plans were not detailed in the announcement, and the notes available do not include any statement from Skydance beyond the leadership appointments themselves.
The transition arrives at a moment when the studio is weighing the performance of its recent films against the ambitions of its planned slate. Superman's worldwide total gave the reboot an early commercial foundation, while the softer returns of Supergirl and Clayface have shifted attention to what the next releases must deliver. Latchman's appointment will be read as a signal of how the new owners intend to manage that balance between creative vision and box-office results.