It is responsible for the production of live-action and animated films and television series, as well as video games, based on characters from the American comic book publisher DC Comics, primarily as part of its flagship media franchise and shared universe, the DC Universe (DCU).

The studio has been led by writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran as its co-chairmen and co-CEOs since it was formed in November 2022.

It was led by DC comic book and television writer Geoff Johns and Warner Bros. producer Jon Berg as co-chairmen.

After several DCEU films received poor reception and underperformed financially, the duo stepped down by the end of 2017, and the division was reorganized, with Walter Hamada hired as the studio's president.

Following the merger of DC and Warner Bros. owner WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. in April 2022, WBD overhauled operations, resulting in Hamada stepping down in October 2022.

Discovery, the new CEO David Zaslav was exploring a restructuring of DC Entertainment, including having a creative leader akin to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead its film and television projects.

Former MGM executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy became the co-executives of Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

Discovery in August, Hamada was not consulted regarding the decision and only learned about it when De Luca and Abdy informed him at a test screening for Black Adam (2022).

[21] During Black Adam's Times Square premiere in October, star and producer Dwayne Johnson said he could be a consultant at DC Films, helping the studio find its next creative leader.

[24] Less than a week after Hamada's departure, writer/director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran, who had previously worked together on the DCEU projects The Suicide Squad (2021) and its spin-off series Peacemaker (2022), were announced as the co-CEOs and co-chairmen of DC Studios, a newly-created production entity under Warner Bros. Entertainment.

The duo was tasked with leading the production of films, television, animation, and video games under the DC label, reporting directly to Zaslav, while also working alongside but independently of the heads of Warner Bros.

They also assembled a writers' room that included Drew Goddard, Jeremy Slater, Christina Hodson, Christal Henry, and Tom King.

[40] At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Gunn unveiled the official logo for DC Studios as an updated version of the 1977 "DC Bullet" logo designed by Milton Glaser, alongside an animated introduction sequence featuring Superman,[41][42][43] in a recreation of the back cover of Superman #1 (1939) designed by Warner Bros.

[44] The updated logo was also being used for DC Comics and its affiliated units,[41][42][43] but was not used for some earlier projects that they had inherited, namely The Penguin and the animated series Harley Quinn (2019–present), because they were not as involved in those.

[44][49] Ahead of the premiere of the DCU series Creature Commandos in December 2024, DC Studios announced the unscripted biweekly video podcast series DC Studios Showcase: The Official Podcast, produced by OBB Sound for the streaming service Max.