DC stay losing!!! James Gunn stepping down from DCU

[0utsyder]

DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn And Peter Safran Fired – Where Did It All Go Wrong For Their DCU?

James Gunn's DCU started with plenty of promise, but a string of questionable creative decisions and box office disappointments has left the franchise without its figurehead. Who's really to blame?

comicbookmovie.com

DC Studios Shocker: James Gunn, Peter Safran Stepping Down with Marvel Alum Jeremy Latcham to Take Over

The duo were believed to be safe amid the Skydance takeover of Warner Bros., but now have a former Kevin Feige protege taking over their division.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Was James Gunn Fired From DC Studios? Reason Why He & Peter Safran Are Stepping Down​

James Gunn and Peter Safran will no longer lead DC Studios in a twist that has shocked all comic book and movie fans.

By: Elisabeth McGowan
Reading Time: 2 minute
November 9, 2026 1:37PM EST
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Image Credit: WireImage



James Gunn and his longtime business and creative partner, Peter Safran, will no longer lead DC Studios. In a move that horrified comic book and movie fans, Gunn and Safran announced they were stepping down from the studio in November 2026. The announcement prompted fans to speculate whether both Gunn and Safran were fired.

“Four years ago, we set out to unite DC under one creative vision,” a joint statement from Gunn and Safran read. “In that time, we helped restore Superman to the heart of DC, while opening new doors and telling new stories in film and television with Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, Lanterns and Clayface. We’re immensely proud of the team that turned that ambition into something real, including the actors, crews and executives we had the opportunity to collaborate with. We’ve shared a creative history with Jeremy going back to Marvel, and we’re eager to see the perspective he brings to DC’s next chapter.”

Although Gunn and Safran confirmed they were stepping down as CEOs and chairmen, they pointed out their involvement in the comic book world was not being cut short.

“We’re excited to return to what drew us to this job in the first place, which is telling the stories we love, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in ‘Man of Tomorrow,” the filmmakers concluded.

Jeremy Latcham was named their successor.

So, were Gunn and Safran fired? Why are they stepping down from DC Studios in the first place? Here’s what we know.

Were James Gunn & Peter Safran Fired?​

Gunn and Safran only confirmed they were stepping down and passing the baton to Latcham, a fellow film producer. However, Variety reported that the dynamic film duo was “out,” implying that they were fired.

However, Gunn noted in his own Instagram statement that he was stepping down to focus on films instead of leading the company.

Why Is James Gunn Stepping Down From DC Studios?​

Gunn took to Instagram to write his own statement about his departure as co-chairman and CEO. In one of the three slides of his carousel post, the film producer admitted there have been “trying” times in the “corporate nature of the job.”

He then pointed out that the reason for his departure was to focus on filmmaking and confessed he felt “relieved” not to have to juggle the daily CEO activities anymore.

“And the thing my ADHD hyper focus has had 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 went on.

 

[Politic Negro]

Bring back YJ

 

[D24OHA]

Bring back YJ

Young Justice?!

 

[D24OHA]

That's wild, he was actually doing a good job rebounding the DC cinematic brand........

 

[Al Smith]

DC's problem is that you can't keep propping up White "Superheroes" that have the moral high ground in an increasingly nonwhite world and have the rest of the world keep supporting your work.. Marvel gets it without having to "pander" to whites to make them feel safer/better about themselves..

 

[knightmelodic]

That didn't last long.

Anyway, DC is gonna keep failing until they find a lane for Supes. Only the first 2 Chris Reeve flicks got it right.

Superman is their #1 hero, hands down, and everybody in the world knows who he is. Bats ain't far behind. So the thing is people already have preconceived ideas about them. You (the writers, producers, directors) have to find a new twist within those confines. Not an easy job I'll admit. But boring origin story after origin story ain't gonna cut it. Neither is nerfing his powers.
Batman is a bit easier to do but still you have to be careful. Half of the Bats movies were good.
WW has never had a good movie and won't until they get rid of the dreadful gal gadot.
Aquaman 1 & 2 were a mess because of the poor acting and infantile scripts.

What Marvel does so much better, besides not having heroes already 100 years old, is get really, really good actors for the parts. Good actors can fix a multitude of shortcomings.

 

[Coldchi]

 

[tallblacknyc]

Supergirl that’s why lol

 

[ThaBurgerPimp]

Supergirl that’s why lol

Jason Momoa just lost his shot at playing Lobo in future DC movies..

 

[tallblacknyc]

Jason Momoa just lost his shot at playing Lobo in future DC movies..

Yep

 

[ScorpDiesel]

That's wild, he was actually doing a good job rebounding the DC cinematic brand........

Nah, he fucked up the 2nd Joker movie.

 

[ScorpDiesel]

That didn't last long.

Anyway, DC is gonna keep failing until they find a lane for Supes. Only the first 2 Chris Reeve flicks got it right.

Superman is their #1 hero, hands down, and everybody in the world knows who he is. Bats ain't far behind. So the thing is people already have preconceived ideas about them. You (the writers, producers, directors) have to find a new twist within those confines. Not an easy job I'll admit. But boring origin story after origin story ain't gonna cut it. Neither is nerfing his powers.
Batman is a bit easier to do but still you have to be careful. Half of the Bats movies were good.
WW has never had a good movie and won't until they get rid of the dreadful gal gadot.
Aquaman 1 & 2 were a mess because of the poor acting and infantile scripts.

What Marvel does so much better, besides not having heroes already 100 years old, is get really, really good actors for the parts. Good actors can fix a multitude of shortcomings.

I'd love to see what Tarantino could do with the DCCU (cinematic universe).

 

[keith6]

I'd love to see what Tarantino could do with the DCCU (cinematic universe).

Batman will say nigga to Clayface!

 

[West Endian]

Damn!

 

[Politic Negro]

 

[ViCiouS]

I'd love to see what Tarantino could do with the DCCU (cinematic universe).

 

[darth frosty]

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Nah, he fucked up the 2nd Joker movie.

He had nothing to do with that movie

 

[yaBoi]

DC's problem is that you can't keep propping up White "Superheroes" that have the moral high ground in an increasingly nonwhite world and have the rest of the world keep supporting your work.. Marvel gets it without having to "pander" to whites to make them feel safer/better about themselves..

Nope the problem is that the movies sucked..

 

[Lexx Diamond]

"stepping down"? He got fired.

 

[Complex]

"stepping down"? He got fired.

I hope you don't believe that

 

[Complex]

I was wondering with the Skydance thing and the Ellison's and it being counter to his politics and his control changing.

He can say fuck you, I'm out.

 

[crossovernegro]

I'm sad that it may mean no Lanterns season 2. I dug that show.


Didn't love the new superman universe. Was ok but last one was better. Couldn't get into the Aquaman flicks and Supergirl looked more like Star wars than anything since she was barely on earth.


But I grew up a Marvel kid so DC shit was always gonna be a hard sell for me.


.

 

[grownazzblakman]

Good riddance. Get them the hell outta here.

• James Gunn's version of "Superman" DID NOT beat Zach Snyder's version at the box office.
• Then he puts out 2 MAJOR back-to-back box office FLOPS with Supergirl and Clayface...
• Then he blamed his poor theatrical numbers on moviegoers having "Superhero Fatigue"...
  
  
• At the same time, those same moviegoers he complained about flocked to movie theaters to help Spider-Man earn more than $2.5 BILLION at the box office.
  
  
• Then you look at the calendar for the next 2 or 3 years & see James Gunn had all kinds of plans to put out EVEN MORE bullshit movies starring a bunch of unknown (C-Level) DC characters who NOBODY cares about... like "Swamp Thing" and "Sgt. Rock" and "The Authority".

Where the fuxk are the Batman movies? Wonder Woman? Cyborg solo flick? The Flash?
How about a Deathstroke movie? Or Martian Manhunter? A Brainiac AI Supervillain?
Where the fuxk is Nightwing? Red Hood? Tim Drake? Damian Wayne?
What about Hawkman? Vixen? Black Lightning? Static Shock? Icon + Rocket?

How about a new "Watchmen" movie?

Wait... Hold up...

Where the fuxk is Darkseid???

James Gunn had NOTHING on the calendar involving ANY of these characters.
His plans for the DC Movie Universe was just pure ass.

Pack him up.

DC needs to bring back Zach Snyder. Pronto.

 

[tallblacknyc]

Good riddance. Get them the hell outta here.

• James Gunn's version of "Superman" DID NOT beat Zach Snyder's version at the box office.
• Then he puts out 2 MAJOR back-to-back box office FLOPS with Supergirl and Clayface...
• Then he blamed his poor theatrical numbers on moviegoers having "Superhero Fatigue"...
  
  
• At the same time, those same moviegoers he complained about flocked to movie theaters to help Spider-Man earn more than $2.5 BILLION at the box office.
  
  
• Then you look at the calendar for the next 2 or 3 years & see James Gunn had all kinds of plans to put out EVEN MORE bullshit movies starring a bunch of unknown (C-Level) DC characters who NOBODY cares about... like "Swamp Thing" and "Sgt. Rock" and "The Authority".

Where the fuxk are the Batman movies? Wonder Woman? Cyborg solo flick? The Flash?
How about a Deathstroke movie? Or Martian Manhunter? A Brainiac AI Supervillain?
Where the fuxk is Nightwing? Red Hood? Tim Drake? Damian Wayne?
What about Hawkman? Vixen? Black Lightning? Static Shock? Icon + Rocket?

How about a new "Watchmen" movie?

Wait... Hold up...

Where the fuxk is Darkseid???

James Gunn had NOTHING on the calendar involving ANY of these characters.
His plans for the DC Movie Universe was just pure ass.

Pack him up.

DC needs to bring back Zach Snyder. Pronto.

Wonder Woman 2 was pure ass… Batman is being done by another production… cyborg was part of Zack Snyder vision.. was people really looking forward to or going out in droves to see cyborg? Outside a few black people?…. The best dc movie that was put out literally is 17 yrs old and most casual viewers had no idea it was dc ( the watchmen) and that was b4 the superhero hype and with less promotion than most modern day movies.. Nolan been stepped down, flash was garbage, it seems peacemaker might not get a 3rd season, lanterns second season in the air.. supergirl should’ve never been made just like Batman vs Superman.. 2 movies that I was both against seemed to both end dc run.. bvs ended Snyder pretty much and supergirl pretty much ended gun… they gonna probably reboot this franchise once again with the same ole supes or bats zzz… marvel ain’t perfect but at least they went with not the same ole people and made hits.. winter soldier, Thanos was right aka avengers 3 , dr strange.. time for another watchmen type product dc.. people liked the boys cause it was violent and gritty, make this your lane dc.. watchmen gave no fucks, being a superhero sucks.. I need this angle

 

[D24OHA]

Good riddance. Get them the hell outta here.

• James Gunn's version of "Superman" DID NOT beat Zach Snyder's version at the box office.
• Then he puts out 2 MAJOR back-to-back box office FLOPS with Supergirl and Clayface...
• Then he blamed his poor theatrical numbers on moviegoers having "Superhero Fatigue"...
  
  
• At the same time, those same moviegoers he complained about flocked to movie theaters to help Spider-Man earn more than $2.5 BILLION at the box office.
  
  
• Then you look at the calendar for the next 2 or 3 years & see James Gunn had all kinds of plans to put out EVEN MORE bullshit movies starring a bunch of unknown (C-Level) DC characters who NOBODY cares about... like "Swamp Thing" and "Sgt. Rock" and "The Authority".

Where the fuxk are the Batman movies? Wonder Woman? Cyborg solo flick? The Flash?
How about a Deathstroke movie? Or Martian Manhunter? A Brainiac AI Supervillain?
Where the fuxk is Nightwing? Red Hood? Tim Drake? Damian Wayne?
What about Hawkman? Vixen? Black Lightning? Static Shock? Icon + Rocket?

How about a new "Watchmen" movie?

Wait... Hold up...

Where the fuxk is Darkseid???

James Gunn had NOTHING on the calendar involving ANY of these characters.
His plans for the DC Movie Universe was just pure ass.

Pack him up.

DC needs to bring back Zach Snyder. Pronto.

I can't argue with either of you......

But Lanterns and Peacemaker were bright spots.

Considering how much of a disaster DC has been in after the SnyderVerse...... they had promise with Penguin then left it in limbo......

The Batman wasn't my cup of tea, but considering the Chris Nolan left with his trilogy even Zach Snyder fell short.

I'm conflicted. Gunn is a competent director, but handing him the keys to the studio was a huge over correction. Gunn couldn't play studio politics and he seemed more concerned with passion projects than blockbusters to make money and keep the board/ investors happy.

I wanted it to work. I want DC to make good movies to keep Marvel on their toes.

But at this point its like when 2K took over NBA games. EA wasn't competitive for so long, 2K was able to cruise and eventually put out ok games instead of the constant innovation they weee doing to outperform EA.

 

[ScorpDiesel]

He had nothing to do with that movie

Oh word? Confirmed. Wow, didn't know that.

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Oh word? Confirmed. Wow, didn't know that.

Yeah that was a sequel left over from the past regime, and its thought that it was made bad on purpose because the writer director hated that right wingers incel/chuds co-opted the character as some kind of right wing incel hero. From interviews it's been posited that he made part two to demistify the joker and show him as a loser.

Either way it did in fact suck lol

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Good riddance. Get them the hell outta here.

• James Gunn's version of "Superman" DID NOT beat Zach Snyder's version at the box office.
• Then he puts out 2 MAJOR back-to-back box office FLOPS with Supergirl and Clayface...
• Then he blamed his poor theatrical numbers on moviegoers having "Superhero Fatigue"...
  
  
• At the same time, those same moviegoers he complained about flocked to movie theaters to help Spider-Man earn more than $2.5 BILLION at the box office.
  
  
• Then you look at the calendar for the next 2 or 3 years & see James Gunn had all kinds of plans to put out EVEN MORE bullshit movies starring a bunch of unknown (C-Level) DC characters who NOBODY cares about... like "Swamp Thing" and "Sgt. Rock" and "The Authority".

Where the fuxk are the Batman movies? Wonder Woman? Cyborg solo flick? The Flash?
How about a Deathstroke movie? Or Martian Manhunter? A Brainiac AI Supervillain?
Where the fuxk is Nightwing? Red Hood? Tim Drake? Damian Wayne?
What about Hawkman? Vixen? Black Lightning? Static Shock? Icon + Rocket?

How about a new "Watchmen" movie?

Wait... Hold up...

Where the fuxk is Darkseid???

James Gunn had NOTHING on the calendar involving ANY of these characters.
His plans for the DC Movie Universe was just pure ass.

Pack him up.

DC needs to bring back Zach Snyder. Pronto.

Agree with a lot of what you said except for Zack snyder, keep that hack away from DC lol

 

[tallblacknyc]

Agree with a lot of what you said except for Zack snyder, keep that hack away from DC lol

Zack Snyder still made the best dc movie..yeah I said it


Legend for this cinematic masterpiece

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Zack Snyder still made the best dc movie..yeah I said it


Legend for this cinematic masterpiece

It was okay(visually) Except for the whole ruining the incredibly important ending to one of the most beloved graphic novels and missing the entire point of it lmao in fact when you think about it there's not much that he gets right when it comes to the actual themes of watchmen, he got the look right and that's about it. He's a competent visual filmmaker but he's no Alan moore lol

Oh and let's not forget the most cringe love scene in the history of cinema set to hallelujah lol

 

[tallblacknyc]

It was okay(visually) Except for the whole ruining the incredibly important ending to one of the most beloved graphic novels and missing the entire point of it lmao in fact when you think about it there's not much that he gets right when it comes to the actual themes of watchmen, he got the look right and that's about it. He's a competent visual filmmaker but he's no Alan moore lol

Oh and let's not forget the most cringe love scene in the history of cinema set to hallelujah lol

As a person who never read the graphic novel and went into this movie with virgin eyes and ears this movie was fucking spectacular.. my theme I got was being a superhero sucks.. all these nigs stories were tragic, there wasn’t no true happy ending.. I loved every minute of it cause it’s the truth.. sometimes a hero gotta kill, sometimes people got to die in order for more people to survive, playing by the book ain’t real sometimes you gotta do bad in order to achieve good.. great fucking concept.. don’t give me that happy go lucky shit give me that raw authentic.. shit like this movie spun shit like the boys.. watchmen crawled so other raw comic book stories could walk.. thank you watchmen.,thank you Zack Snyder.. I need more movies like this instead of everyone is happy and wins in the end.. this movie , avengers 3 this the shit I’m into.. where the bad guys can win , where shit can get fucked up..bring me more

 

[God-Of-War-420]

As a person who never read the graphic novel and went into this movie with virgin eyes and ears this movie was fucking spectacular.. my theme I got was being a superhero sucks.. all these nigs stories were tragic, there wasn’t no true happy ending.. I loved every minute of it cause it’s the truth.. sometimes a hero gotta kill, sometimes people got to die in order for more people to survive, playing by the book ain’t real sometimes you gotta do bad in order to achieve good.. great fucking concept.. don’t give me that happy go lucky shit give me that raw authentic.. shit like this movie spun shit like the boys.. watchmen crawled so other raw comic book stories could walk.. thank you watchmen.,thank you Zack Snyder.. I need more movies like this instead of everyone is happy and wins in the end.. this movie , avengers 3 this the shit I’m into.. where the bad guys can win , where shit can get fucked up..bring me more

I can 100% see someone who hasn't read the og loving it, can't argue against that. Like I said he's a great visual filmmaker, my favorite of his movies is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, just a visual feast lol Zack should stick to directing and work with nothing but proven writers, another Zack snyder film I love was dawn of the dead and that written by James Gunn, but his directing in that is also top notch.

 

[tallblacknyc]

I can 100% see someone who hasn't read the og loving it, can't argue against that. Like I said he's a great visual filmmaker, my favorite of his movies is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, just a visual feast lol Zack should stick to directing and work with nothing but proven writers, another Zack snyder film I love was dawn of the dead and that written by James Gunn, but his directing in that is also top notch.

The funny thing is I liked the man of steel cause of zod and his crew..once again villains fucking shit up.. forcing supes to kill made me go yes cause zod wasn’t gonna stop his violence once he had lost it all.. I actually liked his version of the justice league cause he actually for a split moment showed them lose, in fact he made you respect flash more cause the nig had to dig deep in his powers to reverse time.. I had no clue flash could do that and I was like oh shit all I thought this nig was fast.. for a split moment failure was shown and I loved it, even when ole boy fucked up wonder woman clan I was like yes villains are running wild fucking shit up

 

[0utsyder]

• Then you look at the calendar for the next 2 or 3 years & see James Gunn had all kinds of plans to put out EVEN MORE bullshit movies starring a bunch of unknown (C-Level) DC characters who NOBODY cares about... like "Swamp Thing" and "Sgt. Rock" and "The Authority".

Iron man JUST became an A tier character like within the last 20 years. He was a keep the story moving character for a long time in the comics. Same as all the DC characters you mentioned. Characters are "C-Level" until they ain't. For the longest Blade, Iron Man, Black Panther, Luke Cage , Deadpool, etc... all these characters were B and C (some even D) tier characters until they got movies. FCUKING ANT-MAN?!?!?!?!

Where the fuxk are the Batman movies? Wonder Woman? Cyborg solo flick? The Flash?
How about a Deathstroke movie? Or Martian Manhunter? A Brainiac AI Supervillain?
Where the fuxk is Nightwing? Red Hood? Tim Drake? Damian Wayne?
What about Hawkman? Vixen? Black Lightning? Static Shock? Icon + Rocket?

How about a new "Watchmen" movie?

Wait... Hold up...

Where the fuxk is Darkseid???

James Gunn had NOTHING on the calendar involving ANY of these characters.
His plans for the DC Movie Universe was just pure ass.

Pack him up.

DC needs to bring back Zach Snyder. Pronto.

I don't think you understand how world building works within movies. Your Big Bad doesn't come right out the gate AS the big bad. We JUST had a Batman movie with the sequel still in production. You complain about C tier characters and you bring up Cyborg? I couldn't keep Cyborg comics in my Pull List and I'm from Detroit!!!!

The Joker movie was such a success that they tried it with Clayface...Clayface ain't got it like that! Not in a movie at least. Had they did that in a show I think that would have been better...also better writers if you're going the horror/thriller route. They should have followed the Penguin route for a Clayface show..

Gunn's plans seemed like what would happen if you gave a fanboy (me) unlimited money and a movie studio. Zach Snyder had the same problem. Trying to be a fan and make a movie is like writing a love letter about your girl, but sending it to a stranger. Folks forget about how bad BvS was. How bad Wonder Woman 1984 was...hell how bad Wonder Woman was! Both of their plans was ass (Zach didn't do Wonder Woman) but Shazam, Black Adam, etc...WB, not Gunn, not Snyder. Warner Brothers are their own worst enemy! Putting creatives in charge is never a good idea.

You can't make a Watchmen movie! That movie was the closest thing to perfection as a superhero movie could get. You're only going to fcuk it up. Certain movies are timeless Watchmen is one of them.