Earlier today, it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be stepping down from their roles as co-presidents of DC Studios. This came as a bit of a surprise, as the two had only been leading DC Comics’ live-action efforts for about four years, and several projects were still in the early stages of development. Taking up the reins is Jeremy Latcham, a veteran of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with producing credits on movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and The Avengers. At a glance, that sounds like a decent fit, but now fans have discovered that Latcham recently appeared on the Christian Broadcast News network, also known for being a conservative Christian outlet founded in the ‘60s by The 700 Club host and lifelong conservative commentator Pat Robertson.
Latcham’s interview is fairly innocuous at a glance. He talks about his early life, how he decided he wanted to make movies when he grew up, and how his Christian upbringing informed some of his filmmaking instincts while working on some of his early Marvel projects like the first Iron Man movie back in 2008, specifically noting that he would sometimes worry about whether his grandparents would approve of some of the jokes or dialogue in the film. He notes that director Jon Favreau would tease him for this, and that a large part of what he believes made the film successful was that it was able to grab audiences on a universal level.
Once the news of Gunn and Safran’s departure broke, DC fans found the interview. Now, amid the comments from people who viewed it when it initially went live four months ago saying they found it enlightening to know that Christians are working on superhero movies and the like, you’ll find a lot of folks expressing concern over how Latcham’s mindset might manifest as he oversees film franchises and TV shows that, under Gunn’s influence, haven’t shied away from darker storylines or crude humor.
“So I’m assuming that we won’t get anymore Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, or darker characters like the Justice League Dark,” one commenter writes.
“The most concerning thing Latcham says is at the end,” a redditor writes. “He says that when he was making these early movies, the main guide was ‘would my grandma like this?’ Essentially, he’s saying that these movies need to be fairly safe for the casual viewer. I don’t think this is a good idea if he tries to apply the same idea to the DCU. We are not in 2008-2012 anymore. Audiences do not want more of the same.”
Others were more charitable, noting that Latcham pokes fun at himself in the interview.
“It sounds more like he was cutting ‘objectionable’ content from those movies, rather than pushing Christianity into them,” another reddit user says. “Maybe why they come off so safe. Even in this interview where he shares his own perspective, he kinda makes it sound like other folks treated him as a joke, ironically enough.”
The pivot from Gunn and Safran, whose reign has been characterized by outlandish humor and occasional bursts of hyperviolence, to a Marvel veteran who has shown signs of a more reserved style, has fans worried about the future of the DCU. At least Gunn is still attached to the Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow coming out next year, and is writing another upcoming film in the franchise.
