November 9th, 2026 the day DC Studios died! Ok that may be a little dramatic but with James Gunn and Peter Safran stepping down as the head of the studios certainly feels like the end of an era. Gunn and Safran were in charge from November 2022 and will be handing off the studio to Jeremey Latcham come December 1st 2026. For the last 10 years, it seems like DC studios has struggled to hang with the behemoth of Marvel Studios with the constant change of vision and mergers. As a DC fan, I am left with a lot of questions about the future and upset that this was most likely a move that was results of Skydance Corportation that was formed a month ago.

On October 6th of this year, after beating the legal system Warner Bros. Discovery merged with Paramount to create Skydance Corporation. Gunn and Safran removal does raise an eyebrow, especially with the failure of Supergirl this summer. The Noggin Comics team was pretty split on Supergirl, some of us loved and others found the film to be incredibly flawed compared to Superman. This seemed to be a common thought for the film as Supergirl only brought in $126.4 million. For a superhero blockbuster to not even break even and lose money, it does damage to the brand and I believe that in terms of building a universe, Supergirl was a mistake.

Before continuing, I want to establish that I love James Gunn as a filmmaker and his risk taking personality. His work speaks for itself, the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is one of the best super hero trilogies, Gunn made people care about The Suicide Squad and his version of Superman felt the most like Superman since the 70s. Not to mention his incredible work on the small screen with Peacemaker and Creature Commandos, when Gunn is at the helm the project delivers. However as the head of a studio, Gunn’s vision does not mix well with others which caused an uneven universe.

When Gunn and Safran came into the DC universe, it was a mess and the fan base was divided. In 2021, Gunn would crafted a great film in The Suicide Squad that underperformed at the box office (Hard to judge films released during the pandemic) but was critically loved. Half of the fans wanted to keep the vision of Zack Snyder and the other half was excited for the new take that Gunn would bring to the universe. A few months before James Gunn was announced as the co-head of DC Studios, The Batman from Matt Reeves came out and it was beloved by many. Also Dwayne Johnson tried to do a power move with the release of Black Adam, which was a disaster. This would be the first notion of confusion and some unevenness the studio would have, as The Batman would be consider “DC Elseworlds” and the remaining films that were production would be the last remaining films of the “DC Extended Universe”

The remaining films from the “DC Extended Universe” were doomed, as fans did not care about Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom. All three films would underperform and The Flash would make the universe even more confusing with three different Batmans. Not to mention the mishandling of the underrated Blue Beetle. Fans did not care and wanted James Gunn to come in and save the universe they loved, fans wanted a new justice league. Fans would get the classic Gunn weirdness with Peacemaker acting as a connection between the DC Extended Universe and the DC Universe.

July 11th, 2025 would be the official start to the DC universe with Superman, a reboot on the classic character that was needed after Henry Cavill teased his return in Black Adam. Yeah, it was confusing time for a DC fan but the release of Superman and the first image of David Corenswet made us all excited for Gunn and Safran’s vision of the DC universe. Superman opened with a rotten tomatoes of 83% and grossed $618.7 million, the universe was off to an amazing start and the film introduced characters to a bigger audience. Superman would feature other superheroes like Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl and the scene stealing Mister Terrific. It was the answer to Marvel’s hold on the box office and give DC fans hope. Creature Commandos was a hit on HBO as well, and with the idea that characters from the animated universe would come into live action had so much potential. Even the fun teaser of Supergirl caused excitement for the upcoming film.

However there was still some confusion, Matt Reeves would drop The Penguin in 2024 on HBO which was in the “DC Elseworld” universe and it had DC fans wanting more. This universe that Reeves created was giving fans the Batman universe they always wanted, but it didn’t connect to what James Gunn was doing with rest of the universe. There was no Batman yet in Gunn’s universe, just a slight tease in Creature Commandos. Had many fans asking “Can you kick off the DC Universe with Superman, Supergirl and Clayface?

And this is where the cracks in started to show in the universe that Gunn and Safran was putting together. The casting and pre-production was happening for The Batman Part 2 and it had no involvement with the vision that they created. DC fans were getting invested into an universe that consisted of a young Superman, a careless Supergirl, the justice gang and Peacemaker. No Batman to be seen yet. Would it be confusing to introduce a different Batman in the universe than Matt Reeve’s Batman? No, it could have been established that it was a different universes. Fans were asking “Where is Batman and Wonder Woman?”

Now I do believe James Gunn and Peter Safran would have answered that question within time, but the merger with Paramount and growing demands for profit caused Gunn and Safran to step aside. If Supergirl was a success, things may be different but the message that Gunn posted on Instagram and Threads basically stated he wanted to be a filmmaker again. Supergirl was the only blemish in the universe, everything else was critically praised. It has been stated where Gunn and Safran sit politically and that opposed the new people coming in from the merger. Clayface is turning a profit but its not doing anything amazing. The last month has been filled with news that DC Studios would be its own thing and would only report to the founder in David Ellison. Now with Jeremey Latcham taking over and reporting to the co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group, things have changed.

Gunn even stated he is not a corporate guy and I do think from an overall filmmaking perspective, he should have fun making movies. I am concerned about the future of DC studios though, with many projects already in the works and characters that were introduced in his projects. It may cause even more confusion. Hopefully this is only James Gunn moving on and not a power move from those that disagree with him. Its really difficult to tell with the news coming out as of late.