James Gunn 'relieved and excited' to return to filmmaking after DC exit

James Gunn is "incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking" after four years as the co-head of DC Studios.

Movie fans were stunned when it was announced on Monday that Gunn and Peter Safran had been replaced by Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham as the president and chief creative officer of DC Studios.

In a lengthy Threads post addressing the end of their four-year run as studio heads, Gunn thanked Safran and the DC Studios crew and expressed pride in the projects that came to fruition, such as Superman, Clayface, Man of Tomorrow and Peacemaker.

The Guardians of the Galaxy director then candidly shared the downside of the job, admitting the past four years have been "trying".

"I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that)," he wrote. "I'm always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I've stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years."

After apologising to his wife, Jennifer Holland, he continued, "And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I'm incredibly passionate about and the ones I'm not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head."

Summarising his feelings, Gunn added, "So, yes, I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I'm also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking."

He insisted that he and Safran are not "immediately done" with DC projects, as the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn wrote and directed, will still be released in summer 2027.

In addition, they've "just been engaged on another DC project" that Gunn is writing. He also assured fans that the characters they've set up during their run "will live on".

The studio reshuffle comes shortly after the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger was completed last month. They will continue to operate as distinct film studios under the Skydance corporate umbrella.

It remains to be seen which previously announced DC Studios projects will come to fruition following the leadership change.