James Gunn and Peter Safran named co-CEOs of new DC Studios

On 25 October 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran would become co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios, a new division overseeing DC Comics-based film, television and animation.

The appointment followed months of turmoil at the company, formed earlier that year when WarnerMedia merged with Discovery. Its chief executive, David Zaslav, had been looking for someone to give the DC properties, including Superman and Batman, the kind of coherent, long-term planning that rival Marvel Studios had used for years. Gunn, who had written and directed The Suicide Squad and the Peacemaker series, was to handle creative direction, while Safran, a veteran producer, was to focus on production.

The pair were expected to plan a connected DC universe across cinema and streaming, replacing the loosely linked approach of earlier years. They later unveiled a slate called Gods and Monsters, with Gunn writing the Superman film released in 2025. The appointment set the course for the studio's strategy and its later leadership questions.