Yesterday, James Gunn and Peter Safran stepped down from their positions as co-presidents at DC Studios. This was after just four years on the job and only three movies in the new superhero cinematic universe they were overseeing. The pair has now been replaced by ex-Marvel producer Jeremy Latcham, whose evangelical history has given some DC fans pause. So what happened? According to a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, trouble had been brewing for the pair as soon as the Skydance merger went through earlier this year.

According to THR‘s sources, on Friday, November 6, Skydance co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz informed the pair that, despite previously being told they would be part of the company moving forward, there had been a “change of plans.” The shake-up had reportedly been in the works since “early fall,” with Latcham having been contacted about potentially taking over DC Studios by Skydance Motion Picture Group co-chair John Greenstein, who worked with Latcham during his time at Marvel.

THR says that there were multiple points of “tension” between Gunn and Safran on one hand and the Skydance execs on the other. Gunn and Safran initially reported directly to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, and their contracts said they would maintain that kind of direct reporting structure even in the event of a change in leadership, so they would have reported to Ellison following the merger. Meanwhile, Greenstein and co-chair Dana Goldberg were reportedly trying to consolidate movie production under their leadership, while Gunn and Safran had grown “accustomed to having strong control” over anything under the DC Studios banner.

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