Will James Gunn Become DC’s Taylor Sheridan? His Conspicous Absence From David Ellison’s First Meeting Explained
Is James Gunn leaving DC Studios? This is the lingering question after the Superman director failed to show up for the first meeting with his incoming boss. A lot at DC Studios now depends on the answer to this question, which, in turn, depends on the version of David Ellison that meets James Gunn when the ongoing Warner Bros.Discovery-Paramount Skydance merger is completed.
The formal excuse for Gunn’s absence will likely be that he was held up in Atlanta filming Man of Tomorrow. However, that doesn’t fully explain his absence from a 45-minute meeting that could determine the fate of one of the biggest comics franchises in the world. James Gunn’s contract at DC is set to expire in the Spring of 2027, having been extended for just a year, as it was initially set to end in 2026. This puts him in the same position as TV juggernaut Taylor Sheridan when David Ellison took over Paramount in August 2025.
Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery is set to bring about what is probably the biggest shakeup in Hollywood’s history, and one man is at the center of it all: David Ellison. The Paramount Skydance CEO had his first meeting with the leadership of Warner Bros in what is largely seen as a victory lap ahead of his company’s $111 billion acquisition of the entertainment giant.
Ellison’s introductory meeting touched pretty much everyone that matters at WBD, with 150 senior employees physically present and another 300 attending via video call. DC Studios Creative CEO James Gunn’s absence was, therefore, hard to miss, seeing as he was the mind behind one of the company’s best-performing films in 2025 and entrusted with billions more to fund his sprawling dream for the revamped DC Studios.
While the acquisition won’t be completed until at least September 2026, DC Studios employees already have an idea of what is coming after watching Ellison and his team’s tumultuous entry at Paramount. The merger between Ellison’s Skydance and Paramount saw more than 2000 employees laid off. Surprisingly, the job losses at Paramount cut across the board, with senior executives facing the ax just as much as the junior staff.
The one surprise exit at Paramount, however, was Taylor Sheridan, the man behind the hit Yellowstone franchise, which was almost solely responsible for Paramount+’s 78 million-plus subscribers. During the transition, Ellison personally acknowledged Taylor Sheridan’s immense contribution to the company’s robust content output. However, a few months into his tenure, cracks emerged as the new regime failed to attach the same value to Taylor Sheridan as their predecessors did, leading to TV’s most prolific creator of the last decade signing for a rival 18 months before the end of his contract.
While James Gunn doesn’t enjoy nearly as much freedom and budget outlay at DC as Taylor Sheridan did at Paramount, the two creative minds have a lot in common. A bullish attitude is the one thing likely to put Gunn on the same path as Taylor Sheridan, though. According to a THR report, Taylor Sheridan didn’t take lightly to the new administration constraining his ideas, cancelling one of his movies, and questioning his budget.
Ellison and the new regime also seemed to value Sheridan’s work more than the man himself, as they failed to offer him a new deal when his movie contract was almost out, although they were still interested in his films. Paramount even made a last-ditch effort to try and derail Sheridan’s deal to produce and direct F.A.S.T for Warner Bros, although that doesn’t matter now that they are in charge of the company. With no new offer at hand, NBCUniversal swooped in and successfully courted Taylor Sheridan with a $1 billion deal that will seemingly give him the same wriggle room he had at Paramount before the merger.
While there are no reports of a big suitor coming in for Gunn, his contract situation at DC Studios is highly precarious. Warner Bros chose to extend Gunn and Peter Safran’s contracts as co-chairmen and CEOs for just one year, despite entrusting them with the fate of the DC Universe. While a year is better than nothing, it is not the contract you give to someone who has just launched a franchise set to rival the MCU, which has been around for nearly two decades. That decision put Gunn’s future squarely in the hands of the new regime, which will likely only renew his contract if the numbers are right, of which they are not.
On paper, the fate of the revamped DC studios is tied to James Gunn. Superman, the first official movie of the DC Universe, wasn’t the huge success initially touted by the company. Finer details confirmed the film to be one of the most expensive Superhero films ever made. Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, which was in a well-advanced position to acquire DC’s parent company, also poked holes into the film’s numbers, suggesting it underperformed in the theaters. However, the film largely served its purpose by galvanizing the fan base, although Gunn’s tenure will now be pegged to the rest of the projects in “Gods and Monsters,” the first chapter of the revamped franchise.
It means James Gunn’s career at the helm of DC Studios could come down to Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (June 26, 2026) and Clayface (September 11, 2026). DC is also in a race to keep up with the MCU, a mission massively boosted by Superman becoming the highest-grossing superhero film in 2025. However, the MCU’s lineup in 2026 includes Spider-Man Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, and DC just doesn’t have anything in its roster to rival the two, which means Gunn needs a miracle to replicate his 2025 success in the penultimate year of his contract.
Like Taylor Sheridan, James Gunn’s reputation speaks for itself. His creative genius has seen some of the best Superhero films come to life. From Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy to Superman and the new Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Gunn’s signature humor and ability to turn forgettable and underappreciated comic book characters into legends on the screen are unmatched.
However, despite entrusting him with such a huge project, David Zaslav and the Warner Bros hierarchy failed to secure his dream with a longer contract. Everything at Warner Bros really seems to have been designed to make 2025 a huge success to flip the sale and leave the future to the new owners. The fate of James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios now lies in the hands of people who speak numbers rather than potential, which is why, like Sheridan, Gunn and his team might not have a future under David Ellison.
Like Sheridan, Gunn is also a bullish creator who likes his creative freedom and unwavering trust. That attitude, clearly, doesn’t impress the incoming heads of Warner Bros. Although generally less liberal than many in Hollywood, James Gunn’s political views lean left, a position that could cause more rifts with Ellison and the rest of the right-leaning hierarchy. With numbers, political views, and attitude all clashing, James Gunn’s contract at DC could only be renewed if David Ellison and co choose continuity rather than an overhaul for the DC Universe, which is in its infancy. Unfortunately, with Matt Reeves’ rival Batverse doing so well, James Gunn’s DCU could well be considered dispensable by the new regime.
According to THR, David Ellison said the new mega company, after the merger, will spend more than any other media company on film development and release up to 30 movies a year in the theaters. However, he didn’t address the fears over looming layoffs nor any timelines on specific projects, so his opinion of Superman and DC Studios as a whole remains unclear. James Gunn’s Co-Chairman of DC Studios, Peter Safran, was present at the meeting, although it is unclear if he had a one-on-one meeting with the incoming CEO.
Paramount Skydance is under an obligation to complete the merger deal before September 2026 to avoid penalties that could see the price of the company go up by a reported 25ยข a share per quarter. More details on the future of DC Studios and its current leadership will likely be known by then.
