Why James Gunn and Peter Safran's shock exit is a loss for DC and comic book movies

Even Gods and Monsters aren't safe from the whims of Hollywood. Four years after James Gunn and Peter Safran were asked to lead DC Studios, the pair have surprisingly stepped down from their roles as co-CEOs, leaving the future of their slate uncertain.

While a lot of key talent was let go following Paramount's $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery in October, Gunn and Safran were initially deemed safe as part of the newly renamed Skydance company.

Recent talk of casting a new Batman, of what's considered canon or not in their Gods and Monsters universe, certainly suggested that the pair had no plans to soar up, up and away anytime soon. But still, Gunn seems "incredibly relieved" by the news in an exit post on Instagram where he described his time at DC Studios as "trying, to say the least".

"I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job," Gunn continued, explaining the trouble he encountered dividing his time "between projects I'm incredibly passionate about and the ones I'm not so much," not to mention "all the things I have to do as a studio head".

Although Gunn and Safran will happily return to full-time creative endeavours, things aren't looking so good for the universe they helped create. We're not even halfway through the pair's 10-year plan for DC, and already, the status quo has been reshuffled yet again, not so long after Zack Snyder's take on the DCU also fell apart.

Marvel might be prepping for Doomsday, but the heroes over at DC are facing the end of days for a second time since Iron Man first kickstarted the MCU.

That's not to say the current DCU will instantly end upon Gunn and Safran's impending exit on 1 December. The Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, is in post-production ahead of next year's release, and it's still positioned to be a major blockbuster, uniting David Corenswet's hero with Milly Alcock as Supergirl, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and even Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle.

But how much will fans care now that they know future plans for a potential Justice League formation are no longer viable?

As much as a story should stand on its own two feet, cinemagoers expect a certain kind of forward momentum from comic book event movies such as this. While there's still a chance to capitalise on it without Gunn and Safran's oversight, success isn't guaranteed at the best of times, and that's especially true now that this key thread of creative continuity has been broken.

In terms of concrete plans, all that seems certain is Creature Commandos season two and The People v Gorilla Grodd, a Jimmy Olsen fronted TV series. Even the light of Lanterns season two seems to have dimmed without any official announcement on that front, despite the success of season one.

Perhaps the reason behind this shock news – and the reason why it's such a blow for the DCU – lies in the nature of these few projects which do remain.

While Superman was a hit, and centring a new DCU around the character certainly made sense, it's hard not to wonder if the decision to foreground offbeat, lesser-known figures like Peacemaker, Clayface and Mister Terrific over icons such as Batman and Wonder Woman played a role in all this.

Such risk-taking didn't sit well with traditional fans either who wanted their favourite heavy-hitters to soar up front. It's easy to assume the same is true for Skydance bigwigs who would rather see a safe bet like Batman take centre stage over Supergirl or Clayface (even if the latter did do moderately well compared to that former Kryptonian box-office turkey).

But it was Gunn's preference for minor DC characters plucked from the annals of comic book history that helped set his DCU apart. It's a strategy he found success with at Marvel through Guardians of the Galaxy, which has since become a household name, and it's a strategy he could have eventually perfected at DC with all this extra creative control.

Given more time to cook, Gunn and Safran could have very well rivalled Marvel by drilling down on more brave and bold storytelling that could fly in the face of superhero fatigue. Where else could talk of a Suicide Squad prequel show about Polka-Dot Man sit comfortably alongside epic adventures starring The Last Son of Krypton?

Of course, Gunn and Safran's reign wasn't perfect. Multiple projects failed to get off the ground, and bombing so early on with Supergirl certainly didn't help. But the same is true of many Marvel ventures too, and you don't see Marvel pushing Kevin Feige out after abominations like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Would things have been different if Gunn and Safran had prioritised Batman early on? Perhaps, but to be fair, it's clear that their version of the Dark Knight was held back so The Batman: Part II, a holdover from the previous regime, could forge on first without confusing audiences.

While there have been many, many versions of Batman on screen before, having two in cinemas at once could have been riskier than walking through an alley with your finest pearls in Gotham. Yet, in hindsight, Batman: The Brave and the Bold stalling certainly didn't help matters, and the same is true of failed attempts to get Wonder Woman back on the big screen too.

Refusing to play the long game Gunn and Safran had in store, Skydance's course correction will instead resort to a seemingly safer bet in the form of their replacement, a former producer at Marvel.

Jeremy Latcham previously produced early MCU efforts such as Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, as well as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Gunn's very own Guardians of the Galaxy before going on to develop movies like Bad Times At The El Royale and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.

It seems that Latcham may have been enlisted to replicate the success he helped shape back in the early days of the MCU, although it's worth noting that he hasn't worked in the superhero sphere for the better part of a decade.

What's even more worth noting, however, is the fact that what works for Marvel simply won't work for DC. As much as Skydance might hope for more structure following Gunn and Safran's somewhat scattershot approach, the truth is that DC heroes are mythological in scope, embodying a different kind of hero archetype than Marvel's signature brand of character-driven storytelling.

Assuming Skydance is attempting to emulate what their rivals have achieved, it won't be long before the DCEU endures yet another Doomsday, their third in as many years. And this doesn't exactly bode well for comic book storytelling at large either.

At a time when wider audiences have grown somewhat tired of the genre, the last thing we need is another Marvel. DC has always been the Distinguished Competition, and together, these two companies have pushed each other to innovate new ways forward.

Without the Gods and Monsters of Gunn and Safran's regime, it's entirely possible that the immortal reign of superhero storytelling could come to an end sooner than you might think.

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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.