Superman director James Gunn opens up about leaving DC Studios as a Marvel veteran takes charge and Man of Tomorrow heads for a July 2027 release.
James Gunn had a message for his wife tucked into the announcement that he was stepping down as co-head of DC Studios. She could stop feeling guilty, he wrote, about being the happiest person to see him leave the job. After four years of trying to make superhero movies and run the studio that makes them, the director of Superman sounded pretty happy himself.
Gunn and producer Peter Safran are both stepping down from their executive posts. On November 9, Skydance named Jeremy Latcham, an executive producer on The Avengers, to succeed them, as reported by Deadline. He officially takes over as president and chief creative officer on December 1, taking on complete responsibility for DC’s movies, television shows, and animation slate. One of the first films he will inherit already has a familiar name in the director’s chair.
What Gunn missed about making movies
Even on a demanding film, Gunn explained across his social posts, he could always count on a short break to unwind. Running DC cost him those stretches of time with the people he loved. He credited Safran with shouldering much of the corporate work and described how hard it was to pull his attention away from a project he cared deeply about when another production needed the studio head.
“I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking,” Gunn wrote. He singled out Safran as the best part of the job. The two will share a producing credit again on Man of Tomorrow, Gunn’s follow-up to Superman. The project is already in post-production and due in theaters July 9, 2027, with Clark Kent and Lex Luthor back at the center of the story.
Their successor already has a James Gunn movie on his résumé
Latcham joined Marvel in 2004, worked as an associate producer on the original Iron Man, and went on to executive produce Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. More than a decade after they helped introduce moviegoers to a talking raccoon, Latcham will oversee the studio where Gunn is still writing superheroes. Gunn confirmed that he and Safran have already taken on another DC project, with Gunn writing the script. He is keeping the title to himself for now.