It was a very busy day on Tuesday for spinning the future of the DCU following the ouster of James Gunn and Peter Safran in favor of Jeremy Latcham. Nothing new – burying people in the trades is a hallowed Hollywood tradition. It seems that Skydance operatives fanned out to start planting the seeds of what a disaster the Gunniverse era at DC Studios had been to justify the regime change. The prime evidence, a story in Variety, which frequently carries water for studio takes. James Gunn Exits DC Studios After Losing Money and Spending Too Much was full of snipes and stabs, including accusations that Gunn spent too much money for too little return and focused on weird characters.
Insiders have raised eyebrows at Gunn and Safran’s decision to focus on lesser-known characters, like Superman’s cousin Kara El-Zor, aka Supergirl, and the Batman villain Clayface, rather than building out the franchise with marquee names. Although superhero movies have been hit or miss, the ones that spotlight notable characters can still pack a box-office punch. July’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” became the third-biggest movie in history with $2.5 billion, and December’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which brings back just about all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, could challenge the web-slinging Marvel sequel’s box office records.
Insiders seem to have forgotten the absurdly tumultuous pre-Gunn history of DC, which includes flops for every one of the Justice League cast except, predictably, Batman. Comparing them to well established franchises Spider-man and The Avengers is just silly.
The bit that got the internet in a tizzy, though, was this part, about the TV efforts:
Television efforts, too, were uneven. DC’s main small-screen success was “The Penguin,” a “Batman” spinoff led by Colin Farrell, was greenlit before Gunn and Safran took over. But the rest of the slate has generated less fanfare. Gunn’s “Peacemaker” series, anchored by John Cena, debuted in 2022 before he stepped into the studio job. Although the initial season was popular, the second season – which launched three years later – failed to match the buzz of the first. “Lanterns,” their first live-action TV show, had strong viewership and averaged 19 million viewers globally per episode going into the finale. Yet an insider at the company suggests the crime drama isn’t quite capturing the zeitgeist, pointing out the show has yet to be renewed for a second season.
What the hell does “capturing the zeitgeist” even mean? It was no The Breadwinner, that’s for sure, but it did give rise to intense social media chatter every Sunday, generated countless memes (Mogo!), deepened America’s love affair with Kyle Chandler, and set up Aaron Pierre as a new, refreshing Green Lantern we all wanted to see more of. Prior to this they had NO Green Lantern anyone wanted to see, so it was a win all around.
Most interestingly, the original Variety story stated that Lanterns “had not” been renewed, which they had to change to “has yet to be renewed.” The hubbub even drew an oblique rebuke from planned second season showrunner Chris Cantwell:
Nothing’s cancelled. Calm down.
— Chris Cantwell (@ifyoucantwell.bsky.social) November 10, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Reading between the lines, perhaps a series that dealt with racial issues (issues baked right into the creation of John Stewart in the comics) was the zeitgeist buzzkill for Skydance execs. In that case, maybe the insider should check out the latest non-nerd headlines. The zeitgeist is a very fleeting thing.
While the Variety story was definitely trying to bury anything touched by Gunn, it was also building up Latcham’s bona fides:
“Jeremy is the kind of guy who would go to Comic-Con to get an autograph from someone,” says another source, “not someone who wants to be there signing autographs.”
Just a humble, observant man who also helped make the greatest movie series in history. Latcham boosting was also the topic of a piece by Tatiana Siegel at Page Six, of all places.
But here’s where it goes somewhat off-script for Hollywood. Everyone Page Six Hollywood talked to — from top agents to former colleagues at Marvel to producers in the comic book space — loves this guy. (So much for the trope that Hollywood disdains all things Jesus-y!)
“You’d be hard pressed to find a person of greater integrity than this guy,” says one top agent. “Jeremy is a friend to artists, and he is an ideas person who is calm, a fair dealer and just couldn’t be a better human being.”
Another more jaded agent echoes that sentiment and notes that Latcham is a great choice. “He’s a very good dude.”
And one executive who worked with Latcham during the Marvel days says he boasts, “a brilliant commercial sensibility and is very very well liked.”
I can confirm from some of my own sources that Latcham is indeed seen as “a good guy.” Indeed, I don’t think he’s a villain here, just a guy who is stepping into a raging fire tornado without an asbestos suit.
(BTW, what ever happened to Siegel’s book on the history of DC movies? She’s gonna need so many more chapters!)
Another trusted source for nerd news, Jeremy Fuster and Umberto Gonzalez at The Wrap, weighed in with some great charts on the recent DCEU history which you can’t see without a subscription, alas, but also a solid analysis of the predicament that Skydance now finds itself in: like, what the hell are they even gonna DO now?
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. No more Polka Dot Men or even modestly known heroes like Supergirl. Latcham will be expected to get films for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and other heavyweights going in the years ahead.
And of course, he will need to resolve the issue of Batman’s future. Matt Reeves’ “The Batman: Part II” is in production with the assistance of Steven Soderbergh, who stepped in to finish filming in London after Reeves had to return home due to a personal matter. Gunn had said that Reeves’ “Batman” films starring Robert Pattinson would not be part of the same continuity as the rest of the DC Universe, but that universe won’t reach its full potential until its biggest box office draw — Batman — is a part of it.
Yeah quickly establish characters that the biggest names in Hollywood have been trying to get right for 25 years without lasting success – no big whoop.
Another internet country heard from was the dedicated SnyderBros and Gunn-Haters, who are already planting the idea that Man of Tomorrow is a mess. We’ll see if this story takes hold with actual news sources – or even David Ellison. If it does….well, it wouldn’t be the first time, as I posted on Threads. Paraphrasing a bit:
We could get a disaster the likes of which….we’ve only seen 2-3 times before.
1) Insiders plant bad buzz about MoT to justify firing Gunn
2) Panicked studio chiefs tinker with movie in bid to “save” film
3) Released film is a tonal mishmosh, fails to reach moviegoers and goes down as a loss
4) Vocal fanbase clamors for “Release the Gunn Cut” from now until the end of time.
Needless to say this would be the worst possible outcome, and yet one that Warner Bros. has followed several times, going all the way back to the ORIGINAL SUPERMAN MOVIE IN THE 70s, when beloved director Richard Donner was fired halfway through Superman 2 and Richard Lester was brought in to finish it. Donner’s sins at the time? Clashing with producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind over budget and tone. The Salkinds were the kind of titanically overt egomaniacs that aren’t quite as common in Hollywood these days, but David Ellison might just be a throwback based on the hubris he’s been flashing.
The thing is, what are they gonna do????? For the last 20 years, the DCEU has been trying to follow in Marvel’s footsteps with a connected universe that builds, movie by movie. The thing is, no one can do that except Kevin Feige and even he can’t do it any more. It was a one time thing, and it was very successful, but it’s time for a new plan.
It’ll take years to get Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman back on the screen. You have a pretty good Superman in David Corenswet – are you just gonna abandon that version? James Gunn was just following orders by introducing a lot of DC characters into Man of Tomorrow – it’s what the MCU has been doing for decades, and it’s how you spin things off, including a new Wonder Woman (probably) in the form of rising star Adria Arjona. Are you just gonna jettison that? The Batman Problem….sheesh, I don’t even know what you do with that one. Try rushing any of this and it’s morbin’ time.
Plus, there is Skydance’s very real financial ticking time bomb: they are supposed to make 30 movies a year, but also need to make a profit to pay off their massive debt. The DC characters have to be a key part of that plan. And now the plan that existed has been torn up and will take years to rev up again.
I get that it’s perfectly normal for New Top Guy to bring in his own people. But the timing and optics are equally bad. At least Gunn and Safran had a pipeline. Now that is being dismantled and you have to start from scratch.
There’s another factor looming over all of this. As my colleague Alex Zalben pointed out, the Golden Age of Superhero Movies is over.
Not to get too bombastic but it’s hard not to feel like Gunn and Safran leaving is the final nail in the coffin of the cinematic superhero golden age, which has been slowly fizzling out anyway since Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
I realize Avengers: Doomsday will make a kabillion dollars opening weekend and we’ll keep getting superhero/comic book based movies for the rest of our natural lives, including more DC superhero movies. But Gunn leading DC Studios was carrying a torch for an era that just doesn’t exist anymore.
Warner Bros. the studio was always known for putting filmmakers first, and it’s part of why making a “cinematic universe” was never really going to work for them. It’s not that these characters are going to go away – they are part of the zeitgeist and have been for 80 years. But the era of chasing the MCU is over. The only hope for the Skydance crew is in realizing that.
