James Gunn had plans for more DC horror movies like Clayface — now they may never happen

Clayface has been making waves with both audiences and critics – not something you can say about most DC films lately – which naturally makes the latest round of DC Studios drama all the more aggravating. So, yes, James Gunn is reportedly done at DC, just as things were starting to look interesting on the horror front.

James Gunn was keen to steer more classic DC characters into the horror genre, on a smaller budget, following Clayface's success.

If you're wondering how we ended up here: it all traces back to the never-ending chair shuffle at Warner Bros. After Paramount swept in and bought up Warner Bros. Discovery, there were all sorts of assurances – both Gunn and Peter Safran (who ran DC Studios as a pair) were told many times that their jobs were untouchable. Four years pass, and suddenly, practically the whole top floor of Warner gets moved on, including Gunn and Safran. For fans, it's the usual circus: new executives, scrapped plans, and all the old question marks about whether the universe is about to be shoved in a totally new direction yet again.

James Gunn and Peter Safran were repeatedly told that the Paramount acquisition wouldn't threaten their positions at DC Studios.

Who's actually in charge now?

After the Paramount buyout, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy (who were running things) were marched out, and the Paramount people slotted in their own team. The drama's only gone up a notch since Skydance (yes, another merger) got involved. Enter Jeremy Latcham: ex-Marvel Studios, with producer credits on some of Marvel's true cash cows like Iron Man, The Avengers, and, irony of ironies, Gunn's own Guardians of the Galaxy. Latcham now oversees DC Studios, both as president and creative boss.

Unsurprisingly, fans are now expecting Gunn's carefully plotted plans to join all those other brilliant DC ideas in the corporate bin. To be fair, Latcham knows how to run a big superhero shop, but it doesn't look like horror-infused side projects are top of his agenda. The word is Gunn had been working on a third Superman film, and planned to drop a fresh Man of Steel instalment every couple of years, but there’s still nothing official about which films will survive this latest clean-out. Bit of a wait-and-see, though apparently Gunn will stay onboard in some capacity, at least for now.

• Paramount’s buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery triggered an executive shakeup at DC Studios
• Jeremy Latcham – early Marvel Studios producer – has replaced Gunn and Safran
• Gunn wanted to carry on making low-budget DC horror films after Clayface
• Plans for regular Superman releases now in question as no new DCU slate is confirmed

So the horror renaissance at DC might be over just as it got going. That’s studio politics for you.