DC Studios shake-up: what Jeremy Latcham means for the slate

James Gunn and Peter Safran are no longer the heads of DC Studios, despite many reports saying they were safe. Major outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline are reporting that the pair are stepping down as co-CEOs, with former Marvel executive Jeremy Latcham taking over the division. I think this is going to impact DC Studios in a big way, and I wouldn't be shocked at all if much of the upcoming slate ends up changing.

The Hollywood Reporter notes the duo were believed to be safe amid the Skydance takeover of Warner Bros., but now a former Kevin Feige protégé is taking over their division. So not only are Gunn and Safran leaving their posts, but someone from Marvel is going to lead DC Studios. I know Gunn had many fans, and I also know plenty of people weren't big fans of his.

The DC Universe slate, including Gods and Monsters, could change under Skydance

This could end up changing what we thought was the slate for the upcoming DC Universe. Man of Tomorrow is still happening and Gunn is still working on that film. That has been confirmed. But as far as everything else that was coming up, anything could be changed at this point. I wouldn't be shocked at all if a good portion of the Gods and Monsters slate ended up changing.

Now that Skydance owns Warner Bros. and DC Studios, there's plenty of speculation online that Skydance wanted a more mainstream version of DC Studios, at least at first. That would mean a Superman, a Wonder Woman, a Batman and a Justice League movie, built up like Marvel's Phase 1. That makes sense to me if you consider that they brought in somebody from Marvel who worked on some major movies.

Is that the better play compared to what Gunn was going to do? Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we'll ever know, because Gunn's vision won't be fulfilled.

What The Hollywood Reporter says about Gunn and Safran's exit

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "In a major shakeup that will send shock waves throughout the comic book genre, James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-CEOs of DC Studios." Skydance, which now oversees the division thanks to its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, has appointed Latcham to the post of president and chief creative officer of DC Studios.

The report says Gunn and Safran step down from their leadership roles effective December 1, four years after taking over the job to much fanfare. During that time the duo released three movies, Superman, Supergirl and Clayface, as well as three live action TV shows, The Penguin, Peacemaker Season 2 and Lanterns, and they had a decade's worth of plans in the works.

For fans of the pair, this part may at least help with the pain. The report states they will still be in the fold creatively on a few projects. Gunn has the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow in post-production for a planned release, with a TV spinoff involving Gorilla Grodd also in post. Gunn and Safran also remain producers on The Batman Part II, set for 2028. With their executive days done, the plan is for them to return full time to creative work.

Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison and the company's co-CEO said jointly in a statement: "James and Peter launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate we're incredibly proud of. We're grateful for their passion, contributions, and commitment to this legendary brand."

Were James Gunn and Peter Safran pushed out? My speculation

What's interesting is that even The Hollywood Reporter says Hollywood observers will be looking to discern whether Gunn and Safran decided to move on or were pushed out. It does seem like there were some creative differences between what Skydance and Ellison wanted and what Gunn and Safran wanted to do.

Gunn had a very specific vision for the DC slate. If you're the company behind everything and you want to make money, you might want the bigger superheroes out in front, possibly to compete with Marvel Studios. So you could probably see how Skydance might have clashed with Gunn, telling him they get his vision but need Batman and Wonder Woman sooner rather than later. Gunn probably responded that they'd get to those characters eventually, but he had a plan to do certain projects first and build to a Justice League film down the road.

Maybe the new powers didn't like that and wanted the big characters introduced now, with one of his passion projects only every now and then, so they could get the universe going and sell merchandise. That would restrict Gunn's creative freedom, which probably didn't sit right with him and might have caused him to leave. This is not confirmed in any way. It's my personal speculation, but I could totally see how it might have happened.

Jeremy Latcham, the former Marvel producer set to take over DC Studios on December 1

According to Deadline, Latcham, formerly Marvel's SVP of production and development, takes over as president and chief creative officer. He starts on December 1 and reports to Skydance Motion Picture Group co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein. He worked with Gunn previously on Guardians of the Galaxy.

Latcham shepherded MCU franchises including Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and the Avengers. He will lead DC's film, television and animation slate, overseeing the creative pipeline along with production, talent and strategy.

Why Skydance may want a Marvel-style DC Universe

You might see how, if you're the head of Skydance and you want your franchise to make money, you'd go to somebody from a franchise that has been doing that: Marvel. I'm not trying to pit DC against Marvel. I love both franchises and want both to be successful. But from a business perspective, look at everything Marvel has accomplished, then at how confusing DC has been with resets in the universe, the continuity and some flops. You can see why an executive would want a universe with big characters and a cohesive story.

Gunn could have given us that. I like what he did with Superman; I thought it was a great film. Supergirl did not do well, but everybody seemed to like Clayface. Still, people started questioning projects like Gorilla Grodd, why he chose to do Supergirl at this time, and why he hasn't done Wonder Woman and Batman. Lanterns, as I know, got very mixed reviews.

I think ultimately the studio probably wanted to make money and saw Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, the major players in the Justice League, as the way to do that. They wanted them sooner rather than later, Gunn said that wasn't his plan, and that's where they probably started to disagree. Again, that's speculation on my part, but it's easy to see how it could have happened given what we know of Gunn's plans.

Regardless of what happened, this comes as a big shock, and I would fully expect some things to drastically change in what we thought was the upcoming slate for DC Studios. Whether that works out better or worse, we'll have to wait and see.