DC Studios is set for a major leadership shake-up as James Gunn and Peter Safran step down as co-chairmen. Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham will take the reins of the comic book studio. He has been appointed to the post of president and chief creative officer of DC Studios.
Gunn and Safran will step away from their executive positions on December 1 and return to their creative work. Latcham, who previously worked on several major Marvel projects, including Iron Man, The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, will oversee DC's film, television and animation slate.
Gunn and Safran were brought on board in 2022 by then Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, with the responsibility of building DC into a strong competitor to Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe. During their tenure, the duo revamped the struggling DC Universe and released three films, including Superman, Supergirl and Clayface, along with three live-action series, The Penguin, Peacemaker Season 2 and Lanterns.
They had also drawn up plans for the franchise's future spanning the next decade. Reflecting on his journey at DC in an Instagram post, Gunn spoke about both the highs and lows of the role. The filmmaker wrote, "Only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that)."
He added, "I am always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I've stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I am sorry, and you don't need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I am no longer doing this job). And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I'm incredibly passionate about and the ones I'm not so much, and all the things I have to do as a studio head."
Gunn, however, will continue to be associated with DC characters in a creative capacity. He is currently directing Man of Tomorrow, the sequel to his Superman. "We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer. And we've just been engaged on another DC project which I'm writing, and we'll see where it goes after that. And, of course, the characters we set up will live on,” the filmmaker wrote.
Latham, on the other hand, had stepped away from the superhero genre after leaving Marvel in 2017 to establish his own production company, Latcham Pictures. Since then, he has produced films such as Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and Bad Times at the El Royale.
In his new role, Latcham will oversee DC's film, television and animation projects, managing its creative pipeline, production, talent and overall strategy. He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
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