In a surprise executive shuffle reported by Variety on Nov. 9, 2026, James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as CEOs and co-chairmen of DC Studios after four years, with Jeremy Latcham arriving as president and chief creative officer.

The exit came despite the pair being named to David Ellison's leadership team when Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closed in October.

Gunn says he'll return to full-time filmmaking, while Latcham inherits the film, television and animation slate. Both outlets frame the move as unexpected even by recent Hollywood standards.

The Hollywood Reporter notes the news landed even though Gunn had apparently been reassured he would stay on after Skydance completed its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery last month.

Variety reports the duo were handpicked in 2022 by then-WBD chief David Zaslav specifically to build a true rival to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so handing the studio to a veteran of that very MCU — a producer considered Kevin Feige's right-hand man, per The Hollywood Reporter — is the kind of reversal comics fans will argue over for weeks.

According to Variety, the reset produced mixed commercial results: last summer's "Superman" was a relative success at $618 million globally, but July's "Supergirl" bombed at $126 million on a $170 million budget, while the R-rated "Clayface" performed modestly at $109 million against $44 million.

The pair also expanded DC to streaming with HBO Max's "Peacemaker" and "Lanterns." Gunn, in his Instagram farewell quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, cited highs like "Superman," "Clayface" and "Peacemaker" — while notably not mentioning "Supergirl."

The Hollywood Reporter publishes Gunn's full Instagram farewell, in which he calls his four years at DC Studios "trying, to say the least" and admits "I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that)."

He says his ADHD hyperfocus struggled with dividing time between projects he was passionate about and studio-head duties, calling himself "incredibly relieved" to return to pure filmmaking.

He praises Safran as "the smartest and most competent person I know" and confirms he's already writing another DC project.

Variety reports Latcham — associate producer on "Iron Man" and executive producer on "The Avengers," "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming" — will oversee DC's creative pipeline, production, talent and strategy, reporting to Skydance Motion Picture Group co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein.

The upcoming slate stays intact: "Superman: Man of Tomorrow," written and directed by Gunn, next summer, 2028's "The Batman: Part II" with Robert Pattinson, and the 2027 series "The People v. Gorilla Grodd."

Gunn and Safran say they're eager to see the perspective Latcham brings to DC's next chapter.