James Gunn has been shown the door at DC Studios, and insiders are already pulling back the curtain on Skydance CEO David Ellison's DC new to-do list. News broke on Monday, November 9, that Gunn and fellow co-CEO Peter Safran would be stepping down from their leadership roles, effective December 1. The shakeup came roughly four years after the duo first took the reins, and less than 18 months after the new DCU was reborn in theaters with Gunn's Superman. Nevertheless, Marvel alum Jeremy Latcham will now step in to lead the studio, and it's becoming clearer what Ellison wants for DC's future.
The ripple effect of Gunn and Safran's surprising departure from DC Studios (after being part of initial plans) is making its way around Hollywood. Several reliable trade and news outlets are trying to get a clear picture of what happened in recent days that led to such a massive change at DC.
The Wrap provided some updates, though many of the details are still being ironed out. Most importantly, the question still remains whether Latcham is planning a hard reboot or plans to further adopt the DCU foundation Gunn started and will continue in 2027's Man of Tomorrow.
While no one has been able to answer that question plainly, probably because Latcham doesn't know the answer yet himself, there's now a strong sense of how DC Studios is going to change drastically.
Jeremy Fuster and Umberto Gonzalez's latest DC Studios fallout piece shone a light on Ellison's vision for his newly acquired superhero sandbox. They heard from insiders that Justice League is at the top of mind for Skydance:
"What insiders also expect Latcham to do – by mandate of Ellison – is to get the Justice League back on the big screen as soon as possible."
While some new reporting has indicated that Gunn's future films may be evolving into a Justice League film, it wasn't officially announced by DC Studios to be in the works.
It was also written in the article that obscure characters like Polka Dot Man, "or even modestly known heroes like Supergirl," won't be a priority under the new DC Studios structure. This is a jab at the prequel Polka Dot Man series Gunn teased less than two weeks ago.
Gunn's love for the less popular characters, those he's thrived at making relevant since 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, is something the new DC Studios will be moving away from.
Instead, the article also mentioned DC "heavyweights" like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and others:
"Latcham will be expected to get films for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and other heavyweights going in the years ahead."
While there's nothing concrete yet for the DC film slate following Man of Tomorrow, Aaron Pierre's John Stewart will be making his cinematic debut in 2027, following a successful launch on HBO's Lanterns series.
It's also been reported that Man of Tomorrow will introduce Wonder Woman, expected to be played by Adria Arjona. Putting the Amazonian back in the spotlight isn't a surprising move that Ellison could be mandating. One aspect of the DCU has been unanimously considered a failure: Supergirl.
Those at Skydance probably think there's a real opportunity to have a leading heroine in the DCU, but with a much greater box office appeal. There are plenty of factors to consider, but 2017's Wonder Woman earned $822.9 million globally.
The Flash is an interesting character to be listed by the insiders here, as he was one of the last stray pieces of the old DCEU. Led by Ezra Miller, 2023's The Flash was a disaster, losing the studio money and being rejected by most fans. However, it doesn't seem that the new Skydance version of DC Studios will have a problem reusing burnt-out superheroes recently on the big screen. In fact, it seems quite the opposite.
The reason why Ellison will want such a strong focus on DC's most popular characters, not giving a voice to the lesser-known heroes, is because Skydance has to put out 30 (later increasing to 32) films a year to avoid a penalty. Part of this merger Ellison facilitated was bringing over the popular IPs that Warner Bros. has owned for years.
Especially when looking over at rival Marvel Studios as Disney, it seems like there's so much more potential for DC. Really, since 2013, when the DCEU began with Man of Steel, DC has been playing from behind. At that point, the MCU, with the help of Latcham, was off to the races in their Infinity Saga, having already released an uber-successful Avengers film.
Gunn and Safran inherited a broken situation, and because of Gunn's past work on The Suicide Squad, he decided to keep part of the DCEU in his new canon. A decision that probably didn't cost him his job, but did potentially hold him back from being more mainstream.
The timing of this change did have many fans scratching their head, as Gunn just spent 45 minutes on The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast, which now couldn't seem less relevant.
Gunn is out; he could continue to write and direct, but will no longer be calling the shots. This opens up a new world of possibilities, and a bare 2028 and 2029 release schedule to full-out.
Mapping Out DC's Future Film Slate
When Jeremy Latcham takes a seat at his new desk in DC Studios HQ, the first order of business will be to lay out a plan. It's unclear whether the new regime will still want to produce TV series at the same rate, but the moviemaking output is sure to increase.
Thus far, there are only two DC films coming out anytime soon. Gunn's Man of Tomorrow on July 9, 2027, and Matt Reeves The Batman: Part 2, which is separate from Gunn's DCU universe. On the surface, this is not a terrible line-up, as these are arguably DC's most popular characters: Superman and Batman.
The problem is the lack of cohesion, as the films won't build off of each other, and now there's even a chance Man of Tomorrow will be Gunn's last DCU project. Though the writer and director did state that he's writing another DC project, there's still much to be sorted out. These are the early days of a new era.
Latcham, who will report directly to Skydance Motion Picture Group leaders Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, will need to at least have a plan for the rest of the 2020s, if not beyond. At Skydance, DC is a treasure trove of valuable characters that will be utilized for some of its biggest, most expensive projects, with box office blockbuster expectations.
This has long been a formula at Marvel Studios and Disney, which DC still finds itself trying to match. Despite some bumps in the road at Marvel during the 2020s, its incoming slate of Doomsday, then Secret Wars, followed by three promising movies in 2028, looks much richer in potential profits than anything DC has right now.
Soon it will be back to three movies per year for the MCU, and the DCU needs an answer. Painting with broad strokes, this will likely mean Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern movies all dated for as early as 2028, but more likely 2029 and beyond. If they can keep Gunn around to write and direct, this could also mean a third Superman movie in 2029, and potentially even Justice League in 2031, or it becomes the 2029 film.
Batman is also going to be a huge part of future DC plans, but probably not Robert Pattinson's version. Waiting six years between Batman movies isn't acceptable, or at least it won't be for Skydance. Whenever the DCU Batman movie finally happens, no longer being guided by Gunn, expect there to be a plan for sequels to that film every two years.
Consider the heavy-handed use of Spider-Man from 2012-2019 (seven movie appearances) by Sony Pictures and Marvel. That could be the new usage rate for the DCU's Batman.
