James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Run Was Dead on Arrival

Just when you thought the superhero movie machine had settled into a rhythm, James Gunn and Peter Safran are out. The duo tasked with rebuilding DC Studios from the ground up announced they're stepping down from their CEO and chairman roles — and honestly, nobody should be shocked.

When Gunn and Safran took the helm, there was real buzz around a fresh vision for DC. But somewhere between the plans and the execution, things fell apart fast. The timeline tells you everything: from that initial moment of doubt earlier this year to now, it's been a quick slide down.

This is what happens when studio brass and creative leadership can't get on the same page. DC needed stability and a coherent strategy. Instead, it got another false start — another pivot in a franchise that's had way too many of them already. The muscle is there. The IP is there. But the execution keeps slipping through their fingers.

For a studio that's supposed to compete with Marvel's machine, this is rough optics. Fans are tired of the restructuring, the false promises, the constant reshuffling. DC had a shot to chart a real course. Instead, it got another chapter in a book nobody asked for.

Read the full story at Variety → https://variety.com/2026/film/columns/james-gunn-dc-studios-failed-moviegoers-1236944107/