Jeremy Latcham Takes DC Studios Helm With a Grandma Test

Jeremy Latcham is the new president and chief creative officer of DC Studios, and he is bringing an unusual editorial compass with him: his grandmother. Latcham succeeds James Gunn and Peter Safran, who ran the studio for four years, and comic book movie fans on social media are already asking what his appointment means for the future of the DC Universe on screen.

The answer, judging from Latcham's recent interviews, points toward broad four-quadrant crowdpleasers rather than edgier fare.

"When we were making the first Marvel movies I would always be like, 'I don't know if my grandma would like that,'" Latcham told Christian Broadcasting News over the summer (via GamesRadar). "That became a guiding light... it became the stand-in for 'is this going to work for regular people outside the bubble of Hollywood?'"

Who is Jeremy Latcham?

Latcham's credentials run through the founding decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He joined Marvel Studios in 2004 and rose to senior VP of production and development, working closely with president Kevin Feige.

His Marvel filmography includes:

• Associate producer on "Iron Man" (2008), the film that launched the MCU
• Co-producer on "Iron Man 2"
• Executive producer on "The Avengers"
• Executive producer on "Guardians of the Galaxy"
• Executive producer on "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
• Executive producer on "Spider-Man: Homecoming"

He left Marvel in 2017 to found Latcham Pictures, which produced "Bad Times at the El Royale" and "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."

What does the 'grandma test' mean for DC?

In a separate interview with GamesRadar+, Latcham elaborated on the philosophy he developed in the Marvel editing rooms, where his Midwestern grandparents became a running joke. "In the old Marvel days, there's this great story about my Meemaw and Peepaw because they became, like, a joke in the editing room – that we were making the movie for my grandparents in Oklahoma," he said. "If they weren't gonna understand it, [it was] never going to work for anybody..."

"I think that's kind of the fun of these movies, of adapting material – finding a way to make it for everybody," Latcham continued. "You have to be true to the fans, but you have to make it ultimately for everybody."

What does this change for viewers? It signals that DC's post-Gunn-and-Safran slate will likely favor accessible, mass-audience storytelling over niche or adult-oriented experiments, while Latcham insists the studio will not abandon its core fanbase.

'A massive responsibility'

In his official statement on becoming the new head of DC Studios, Latcham framed the job as both an honor and a burden. "DC's pantheon of characters is among the most iconic in American popular culture," he said. "I've had the privilege to help bring some of the most celebrated superhero stories to life on the big screen, and I'm excited and honored for the opportunity to now lead DC Studios into its next era."

"The chance to steward the incredible cast of DC characters to the screen in a way that excites lifelong fans while introducing their timeless stories to the next generation is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly," the statement continued.

The appointment closes a transitional chapter for the Warner Bros.-owned studio and opens a question that will only be answered at the box office: whether the man who helped build the MCU's winning formula can repeat it in Gotham and Metropolis.