Why James Gunn and Peter Safran’s Short-Lived DC Era Was Less Than Super

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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I’m not in the business of second-guessing movie-studio executives. But after the bombshell announcement that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be stepping down as the CEOs and chairman of DC Studios, I flashed back to the moment when I first questioned what these two were up to in their new roles.

It was Jan. 31, 2023, the day they announced their grand plans, unveiling the vast roster of DC projects they were going to be shepherding. There were promising ideas in the mix, and there were a lot of ideas (that’s long been a James Gunn asset and liability — his compulsion to give you too much of what he thinks is a good thing). But the one that set off my alarm bell was that Gunn and Safran were planning an all-new “Batman” series, one that, within the realm of Warner Bros., would run alongside “The Batman” and its sequel.

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