Superman’s Martha Kent has a calm message for DC fans panicking over James Gunn’s exit
With speculation mounting over James Gunn and Peter Safran stepping down, a Superman DCU star says they understand the move and insists there’s no need to panic.
Right, if you’ve not been online for a few days, you might have missed the big news out of DC Studios: James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down from their roles running the ship. Naturally, DC fans immediately started conjuring up all sorts of dramatic scenarios about what this means for the next few years in the universe. Will Superman’s new era grind to a halt? Is Batman moving house again? Turns out, at least one star from the recent blockbuster Superman film isn’t losing any sleep over it.
No panic here. I get this decision.
That’s Neva Howell—you’ll know her as Martha Kent from the 2025 Superman movie—putting things rather succinctly on X. While the rest of the internet flapped about leadership chaos, Howell’s attitude sums up the mood in certain corners: change doesn’t have to mean crisis.
What Actually Happened?
The announcement set off the usual storm of speculation: was this genuinely a personal decision, or had Gunn and Safran been nudged out following Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros.? Some conspiracy theorists reckon the new overlords weren’t thrilled with the direction Gunn was taking the DCU.
However, Gunn took the time to spell out that the daily grind of running a vast film studio wasn’t exactly doing great things for his personal life. Apparently he wants to get back to hands-on filmmaking—and maybe talk to his family occasionally—which, to be fair, feels rather reasonable. The key bit: Gunn isn’t vanishing from DC entirely. He’ll still be creatively involved, just no longer responsible for the top job’s endless admin and boardroom headaches.
Gunn and Safran are sticking around as executive producers for the next Batman: Part II film, due in 2028, and Gunn’s own Man of Tomorrow is still slated for July 2027.
The New Faces and the State of Play
The suit in charge now is Jeremy Latcham, newly installed as president and chief creative officer. There’s a murmur going around that his arrival means Paramount wanted a change of pace—but so far, nothing solid backs that up. While Gunn and Safran were in power for about four years, they oversaw a tidal wave of announcements and actual releases, stretching across both mainline DC and Elseworlds projects. Some stuff came out as planned, other things quietly faded into ‘under development’ limbo. If you’re keeping tabs, Gunn has been behind some of the more successful DC outings in recent years—think Creature Commandos, Lanterns, and that latest Superman film.
All in, the leadership handover is a shake-up, but not quite the drama fans had been fearing. Gunn remains in the creative picture; Martha Kent herself isn’t fussed; Superman’s not being mothballed. The DCU baton’s just changing hands—again.
Batman: Part II is still on track for a 2028 release, and Man of Tomorrow comes out July 2027.