In a statement released today, DC Entertainment announced that its current President and Chief Creative Officer – Geoff Johns – will be stepping down from these roles. This closely follows last week’s departure of long time DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson. The current DC Comics Publisher Jim Lee will be taking over.
But fear not, Geoff Johns fans, for he is not leaving D.C. entirely. Johns is launching Mad Ghost Productions and will be entering in to an exclusive writer/producer deal with Warner Brothers and DC Comics. In addition, he will be writing a new imprint for DC Comics called ‘The Killing Zone’. Third, Johns will be writing new titles such as SHAZAM! and new book entitled ‘Three Jokers’.
On the ‘Producer’ side, Johns will continue with writing work on the Green Lantern Corps movie (rumored to center around Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz searching for Hal Jordan) and the second installment on Wonder Woman as well as the various projects in development via the DC Universe digital streaming platform set to ‘go live’ in a few months’.
Toby Emmerich, Chairman of the Warner Brothers Group commented on the news; “We’re thrilled that he’s returning to his passion and his roots as a writer and producer. And, it’s even better that he’s staying in our Warner Bros. family. We look forward to working with him on ‘Green Lantern’ and other projects going forward.”
Dan Didio also commented; “Geoff is one of DC Comics’ most prolific writers, and we can’t wait to see what he does next now that he will be dedicating 100 percent of his time to telling the best DC stories possible across all media,”
Finally, Geoff Johns himself opined on the news, proudly saying; “I took on a role at DCE because I love the characters and this universe more than anything. But, I want to spend my days writing and on set. I’m thrilled to get back to a more hands-on creative role. It’s a dream job on dream projects, reaching even deeper into DC’s vast pantheon of characters,” and “I’m also excited to continue to work with the amazing team at DCE and my colleagues at Warner Bros.”
