By Brandon T. McClure
For a number of months now, there have been numerous reports about how Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav was looking for a “Kevin Feige-like” figure to spearhead a new direction for the DC films. The thinking was that, despite their success, DC has been floundering without a singular voice guiding a specific direction, in the vein of Marvel Studios. THR has recently reported that that figure has finally been found in the form of James Gunn and Peter Safran. The two of them will work together as co-CEOs at DC Studios, effectively replacing former head Walter Hamada who departed the company earlier this month.
Reports of this search have been going on since the early days of the merger with WarnerMedia and Discovery. Initially, it was reported that Zaslav was looking at offering the job to the likes of Joker director Todd Phillips and even Kevin Feige himself. No formal offer was made to either man but it looked like Zaslav was barking up the wrong tree with, at least Feige. It’s difficult to imagine anyone pulling Kevin Feige away from Marvel Studios at this point or in the near future. While Joker made lots of money for WarnerMedia (Or was it TimeWarner at the time?), Phillips isn’t a comic book fan and he didn’t seem like the right fit. So the search continued.
Fast forward a number of months when it was revealed that Walter Hamada was given the offer to stay on board the new company. Hamada, for all his faults, oversaw very successful DC films including Aquaman and Shazam. Walter Hamada had a very filmmaker-first attitude when it came to the DC films he produced. He was adamant that every DC film would be able to stand on its own as the sole vision of the director. This was a deliberate contrast to how Marvel Studios produced their films. His strategy seemed very chaotic, however, with Michael Keaton returning and replacing Ben Affleck as Batman, a film centered on Static Shock, multiple Superman projects, and many spin-off shows for HBO Max that were in various stages of pre-production. Hamada was very interested in making big-budget shows and movies for HBO Max, which Zaslav is reportedly very opposed to. When Zaslav canceled Batgirl during its post-production, Hamada decided it was time to leave the company and he declined the offer. It’s possible more of his projects were canceled than the public knows at this point (Does anyone know what happened to Static Shock?). He had his strengths, but he had also been a controversial figure in the eyes of the public thanks to his actions during the abuse investigation of the 2017 film Justice League, so perhaps his leaving was for the best.
The search appeared to be over at last when a report came out that producer Dan Lin was being considered for the role. Once again, no formal offer was made but it appeared that Warner Bros. Discovery was putting all they had into getting him onboard. Lin had a relationship with Warner Bros. after producing many films for them, including The Lego Movie and Godzilla vs. Kong. However, he has many projects in the works right now through his production company Rideback, such as Lilo & Stitch with Disney and the long-awaited third Sherlock Holmes film. In order to take on this role in DC Studios, Lin would have to leave Rideback and any projects he was associated with as well as a first-look deal with Universal Studios. By all accounts, he seems like a good man, a decent producer, and a fan of DC Comics, but it wasn’t meant to be. He denied the offer when it came, likely due to the controversial cuts David Zaslav had been making throughout the company.
After an extensive search, Warner Bros. Discovery finally announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran had signed a deal to be Co-CEOs of DC Studios, which appears to be a new division within Warner Bros. Discovery and in the same vein as Marvel Studios. Most people will know James Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, but may be unfamiliar with Peter Safran. Safran has been a producer on many Warner Bros. franchises, including the Conjuring movies and DC films, including Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad, which he did with James Gunn. In fact, Gunn and Safran’s working relationship goes even further as THR reports that Safran began his time in the film industry as a manager where James Gunn was one of his clients.
It appears that Zaslav turned his attention to building a structure at DC Studios similar to how Pixar is run, rather than Marvel Studios. A notion corroborated by THR themselves when they say “Even though Zaslav talked about finding a Kevin Feige-style executive, over the summer the team started looking at emulating the Pixar model, in which you have producers and filmmakers working as executives. That has never been tried in the live-action space”. This could be an experiment that pays off and, if it does, could lead to an industry shift where more creative voices are put behind the scenes. Gunn, for his part, will focus more on the creative side of everything while Safran will focus on the business and production side. The two of them will oversee all of DC’s film, television, and animation endeavors, which likely means picking up the pieces that hurricane Zaslav has left them with.
“We look forward to collaborating with the most talented writers, directors, and actors in the world to create an integrated, multilayered universe that still allows for the individual expression of the artists involved.” Gunn and Safran said in a joint statement. Since so many fans have resonated with DC’s filmmaker-first approach to their films, it sounds as though Gunn and Safran want to keep that intact while also honing in on the chaotic approach left by Hamada. While Zaslav likes to boast a new ten-year plan for DC films, Gunn and Safran’s contract is only for four years, with the likely option to sign a new contract when it’s up. For reference, Hamada was only at Warner Bros. for four years as well, so there’s certainly a lot that can be done in that time. During this time, Gunn will be exclusive to DC, which puts to bed any speculation of him directing a Marvel film after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While he obviously has Peacemaker season 2 in the works, he will be able to also direct other DC films while he’s operating as co-CEO, something that has only been done at Pixar.
Up until now, the post-production of upcoming DC films like Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and The Flash have been overseen by the heads of Warner’s film division Micheal De Luca and Pamela Abdy. But effective November 1st, Gunn and Safran will take over those duties and every future DC film with the exception of Joker: Folie à Deux and possibly The Batman, due to them existing in separate universes. It’s unclear at this time who will produce the sequel to The Batman and its spin-off shows on HBO Max but De Luca and Abdy will produce the upcoming sequel to Joker. That all said, Gunn and Safran will work directly with De Luca and Abdy, and other various department heads while answering directly to David Zaslav himself. By all accounts, the two of them are kind people, who know how to make good movies and are fans of the source material, so this sounds like news that should be celebrated. While this is just speculation, it would be nice if this meant the remaining DC projects in development were safe from being unceremoniously canceled by Zaslav's need to recoup his dept.
Kevin Feige is a tough act to follow. Studios have been trying to replicate what he’s done for more than a decade now to no success. Warner’s has gone through many people trying to find their own, such as Zack Snyder, Geoff Johns, and the aforementioned Walter Hamada but none have found the secret sauce that makes Feige’s approach so successful. Truthfully, DC’s most successful when they aren’t trying to replicate what Marvel has done. DC’s films have found financial and critical success despite the constant changes behind the scenes. Time will tell what a more consistent voice will do for the films. A Pixar-type structure for a live-action studio is an interesting idea, one that could pave the way for more creative voices behind the scenes of major studios. While the news is surprising, considering Gunn has never expressed interest in being in this position, it’s great to have good news come out of Warner Bros. Discovery for once.