James Gunn And Peter Safran's DC Exit Exposes A Bigger Hollywood Problem

James Gunn and Peter Safran are officially out as DC Studios co-heads in what is a major shock to both the industry and fans expecting much more from their still burgeoning DC Universe. The pair were announced as the shepherds of DC's cinematic enterprise back in November 2022. But four years later, their journey has come to a premature end. What comes next is anyone's guess. All we know for sure is that former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham is taking over and that Gunn will still release his "Superman" sequel "Man of Tomorrow."

In fairness, Gunn and Safran's approach seemed ill-advised from the outset. The now shuttered DC Extended Universe, or "Snyderverse" as it was known, went out in 2023 with a string of flops that proved audiences were tired of what Warner Bros. and DC were providing. Instead of starting from scratch, though, Gunn and Safran rebooted the franchise with a few caveats, retaining elements of the previous cinematic universe while jettisoning most of the major characters and storylines. At a time when superhero movies were already starting to lose their box office appeal, it seemed like an odd approach, at the very least.

On the plus side, Gunn was allowed to take big swings by green-lighting projects based on little-known DC characters. That, at a time when popular IP is being mined for all its worth, was refreshing, if risky. Now that he and his DC Studios co-head are gone, however, we'll almost certainly see much less of that and a lot more focus on well-known characters with proven box office appeal. It's a complex and nuanced situation that ultimately leaves DC in a precarious position ... and audiences even more confused and frustrated than they already were.

The Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount merger became official in October 2026, after which it looked as though James Gunn and Peter Safran were relatively safe in their roles as DC Studios co-heads. David Ellison, CEO of the newly-christened Skydance,  previously seemed to support the pair's vision for the DCU going forward. He even flew to the "Man of Tomorrow" set prior to the merger becoming official, in what appeared to be tacit approval of Gunn's DC roadmap. Alas, it seems Ellison had other plans all along.

At this point, we don't know the details of Gunn and Safran's departure. As we await further information about what Jeremy Latcham has in-store, it seems almost certain he won't be green-lighting shows such as "Creature Commandos," the animated series that Gunn used to kick off his DC Universe, or movies such as the box office flop "Supergirl." Instead, we're likely to see DC double down on its marquee characters: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

On the one hand, that is a real shame, as it reinforces Hollywood's fixation on established IP and suggests filmmakers with more interesting creative visions will be sidelined. On the other, you have to wonder what Gunn and Safran were thinking with these projects based on characters of whom mass audiences had little to no awareness. By all means, make an animated "Creature Commandos" show and talk up your movie based on the "Authority" comics. But maybe save them for after we've gotten over the whole superhero fatigue issue and restored DC's cinematic fortunes?

Ironically enough, former Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who appointed James Gunn and Peter Safran as DC Studios co-heads, couldn't get enough of IP. In his first investor conference, he told shareholders that Warner Bros. was "the greatest treasure of global IP," prior to approving a Harry Potter reboot series that surely stands as the most conspicuous symbol of Hollywood's obsession with IP and nostalgia. When Gunn laid out his vision for the DC Universe, he wisely touted "Superman" as the centerpiece of his plans. But he also spoke enthusiastically about projects based on characters nobody outside of comic book fandom had heard of.

Since then, he's overseen some hits: the aforementioned "Superman," the HBO series "Lanterns," and the most recent DC Studios movie, "Clayface." But at the same time, he's overseen "Supergirl" flopping in spectacular fashion, and his animated series "Creature Commandos" didn't make the kind of splash that the DCU needed (despite being well-received by those who watched it). What's more, we've been getting podcasts in which he discusses whether his 2021 film "The Suicide Squad" is canon to the DCU or not. I think this is the sort of stuff that, viewed in hindsight, will seem so obviously misguided.

Meanwhile, the threat of a DC cinematic universe populated by bland, big-budget movies designed to capitalize on audiences' awareness of IP looms. Viewed from any perspective, this is a pretty dire situation that will do nothing to help bring superhero movies back to prominence, and it may even actively hasten their decline. And to think, all we needed was a full DC reset in 2022.