DC Comics has lost another boss: ComicBook.com is reporting that Daniel Cherry III, who was hired as SVP and General Manager about 18 months ago, is leaving the company.

UPDATE: according to news reports, Cherry quit the company, reportedly to take a job with Kanye West’s new digital venture.

Cherry came aboard DC in September of 2020, following a stint at Activision Blizzard where he worked in the eSports division. He was brought in to oversee the business side of things, with an eye to steering the company more towards digital. The company had been rocked by some layoffs…which continued under Cherry’s time there, with the sales and marketing departments undergoing complete disassembly. 

Cherry’s tenure was also marked by corporate tumult as AT&T attempted to remake Warner Studios as a streaming-first company during the pandemic, only to sell it off to Discovery last year. 

Successes for DC included the two online DC Fan Dome events,  the ongoing success of the kids/YA line, the Future State initiative, DC’s teamup with Fortnite, and other crossover events, most of which, I’m told, were the work of executives who were among those laid off.

Cherry (wisely) kept a low profile during his tenure, emerging only for one interview, a joint one with Jim Lee for The Hollywood Reporter. In it Cherry gave mostly anodyne statements, but seemed to be interested in digital, as you would be.

As for the future of DC, Jim Lee remains as CCO, with Marie Javins as editor-in-chief, both stabilizing influences. However, DC’s future is very much up in the air: Cherry’s boss, Pam Lifford, has tried to rebuild DC as a lifestyle brand, but where that will go with the switch to Discovery remains to be seen. Discovery head David Zaslove seems like the kind of guy who would like comic books but nobody has any idea of how a publishing company will fare in the new hierarchy.

On the plus side, everyone at AT&T, Warner Bros. or Discovery has to understand the importance of DC’s characters to the studio’s overall success, especially with the Harry Potter brand tainted and fading. Peacemaker seems to be an interesting foray into the kind of TV/Film tie-in Marvel can do in its sleep, and this year will see a new Batman movie as well as Justice League survivors Aquaman and The Flash with new films….and Black Adam, too.

But where we go from here is wide open.Will Cherry get a replacement – as seems likely –  or will Jim Lee finally take the reigns of DC? Let the speculation begin!

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