TL;DR — the direct answer: James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as the chiefs of DC Studios after four years in charge, Skydance announced on Monday, 9 November. Former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham takes over as president and chief creative officer on 1 December — the biggest shake-up at the home of Batman and Superman since the studio was created.
What happened: Skydance announced on 9 November that Gunn and Safran will leave their roles as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios on 1 December, after a run that began on 1 November 2022. Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive and part of the founding team behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will become president and chief creative officer the same day. He will run DC's film, television and animation slate, with oversight of the creative pipeline, production, talent and strategy, and will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of the Skydance Motion Picture Group. Gunn and Safran are not leaving DC behind: both return to creative work full time, including Gunn's Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel now in post-production and dated for 9 July 2027.
Why it's trending: The move is a reversal — and a statement about who runs Hollywood now. Just weeks ago, after Paramount closed its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in October, the combined company, now named Skydance, had kept Gunn and Safran in place on David Ellison's leadership team. Now they are out of the top jobs, and the man replacing them built the rival universe: Latcham worked on Iron Man, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man, and was senior vice president of production and development at Marvel Studios. Fans are already debating what it means for the DC Universe Gunn and Safran spent four years resetting — and whether a Marvel veteran will keep it, reshape it, or start again.
Background / context: Gunn and Safran were appointed in October 2022 by then Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to bring DC's film, television and animation projects under one unified creative direction. Their tenure produced a reset of the DC screen universe, anchored by Gunn's Superman, and a slate that includes The Batman Part II and the completed HBO series The People v. Gorilla Grodd. Latcham has already said in public what he wants a superhero movie to do: in a 2026 interview, he laid out a standard — films made for everybody, the kind of movie a grandmother and a grandchild can enjoy together — that was pushed back into circulation on 10 November, the day after the announcement. The appointment was announced alongside Skydance's third-quarter earnings report.
What we know / what's unconfirmed: Confirmed: the announcement, the 1 December handover, Latcham's title and reporting line, Gunn and Safran's return to creative work, and the Man of Tomorrow date of 9 July 2027. Unconfirmed: which parts of Gunn and Safran's wider universe Latcham will preserve, change or approve. No comprehensive plan has been announced, and the release year for Man of Tomorrow has been inconsistently reported in some coverage — the 9 July 2027 date is the one Skydance's announcement and the trade press agree on. Also unconfirmed: how much of the change is creative and how much is corporate, with the new Skydance ownership still settling its leadership.
What happens next: Latcham starts on 1 December. His first test will be the slate already in motion: Man of Tomorrow in post-production, The Batman Part II in development, and a television and animation pipeline that Gunn and Safran built. The next concrete milestone is his first slate decisions — which projects survive, which get reworked, and whether the DC Universe keeps its current shape or gets a Marvel veteran's redesign.
Q: Who is taking over DC Studios?
A: Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive and part of the founding team of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, becomes president and chief creative officer on 1 December 2026.
Q: Why are Gunn and Safran leaving?
A: Skydance announced they are stepping down as co-chairmen and co-CEOs after four years, to return to creative work full time. The move follows Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in October.
Q: Are Gunn and Safran leaving DC entirely?
A: No. Both continue producing projects for the studio, including Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel written and directed by Gunn, due in theatres on 9 July 2027.
Q: What did Latcham do at Marvel?
A: He was senior vice president of production and development at Marvel Studios and worked on Iron Man, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man.
Q: When does Latcham start?
A: 1 December 2026. He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of the Skydance Motion Picture Group.
Sources: Animation World Network — DC Studios Co-Chiefs James Gunn, Peter Safran Step Down, FanBolt — From 'Iron Man' to the DCU: Jeremy Latcham Wants Superhero Movies Made for Everybody, and Wikipedia — Jeremy Latcham.
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