If you follow the inner workings of DC Comics at all, you know that Geoff Johns has been a major figure at the company for over two decades. Having penned numerous well-received comic books there early in his career, Johns then started balancing his writing duties with contributing to the movie and TV divisions, and after being named Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment in 2010, he added President to his list of titles in 2016. However, word has come in that Johns is now leaving both of those duties behind, but his time with DC Comics overall is by no means over.
This news, as reported by THR, comes several days after it was announced that Diane Nelson, who also served as DC Entertainment's president (and to whom Johns reported), was exiting that position following a months-long sabbatical. Now Geoff Johns also no longer serving in that capacity or as Chief Creative Officer, but for those of you that enjoy his comic book writing, he's been given a full-time DC Comics writing and producing deal. So for DC's printed page endeavors, Johns will continue being an important contributor, and fellow DC bigwig Jim Lee will take over as Chief Creative Officer, in addition to still serving as Publisher. However, regarding the DC Extended Universe, this is definitely a major shakeup, as Johns had been one of the key individuals aiding in these superhero properties into live action.
Geoff Johns was one of the executive producers attached to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a few months after that movie failed to be the critical hit DC and Warner Bros were hoping for, Johns was tasked to co-run the DCEU with producer Jon Berg. But this past January, following Justice League's lukewarm critical and commercial performance, Walter Hamada, who had executive produced horror movies like The Conjuring and Lights Out, was named as the new head of DC Films. At the time, Johns was going to still be working closely with Hamada with these blockbuster projects, but thanks to this latest development, now he finds himself fully back in the creative world. In addition to working on the currently-running Doomsday Clock comic book, as well as an upcoming Shazam! title and a Three Jokers series, Johns will write and curate a "pop-up label" called The Killing Zone, which focuses on lesser known DC characters and titles.
It's also worth mentioning that just because Geoff Johns is no longer one of the main DCEU figures doesn't mean he's done contributing to this franchise or working on movies overall. In addition to having co-writing and producer credits on the upcoming Aquaman and co-writing Wonder Woman 2 alongside director Patty Jenkins and David Callaham, Johns is also writing and co-producing Green Lantern Corps. Given that Johns wrote the Green Lantern comic book series for nine years and revitalized the property (particularly where Hal Jordan is concerned), needless to say he's especially suited to tackle the Green Lantern Corps screenplay, and hopefully this goes over better than the 2011 Green Lantern movie did. Johns is also launching the Mad Ghost Productions banner, which will churn out content for film, television and comics.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the biggest developments concerning the DCEU, and if you're interested in learning what projects this franchise has in development, look through our handy guide.
