Superman creator Joseph Schuster’s estate is reportedly suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics over the release of James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie starring David Corenswet.
It begins July 11th. #Superman pic.twitter.com/ey5Bwhnt6D
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 26, 2025
Oh, this is crazy – the lawsuit says DC Studios doesn’t have rights to release the movie in “key territories” like England, Canada, Ireland and Australia.
Like, what?! How does that even happen? More on that in a sec…
If the lawsuit isn’t settled before the scheduled release date of July 11, it could be delayed in those aforementioned territories. However, Warner Bros. says there’s no merit to the claim made by Schuster’s estate.
In a statement, a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson said, “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights.”
Though Schuster and fellow Superman co-creator Jerome “Jerry” Siegel signed over worldwide rights to the character to DC Comics in 1938, the lawsuit claims international copyright law stipulates that “such assignments are automatically terminated 25 years after an author’s death”.
The lawsuit states, “Shuster died in 1992 and Siegel in 1996. By operation of law, Shuster’s foreign copyrights automatically reverted to his estate in 2017 in most of these territories (and in 2021 in Canada). Yet Defendants continue to exploit Superman across these jurisdictions without the Shuster Estate’s authorization—including in motion pictures, television series, and merchandise—in direct contravention of these countries’ copyright laws, which require the consent of all joint copyright owners to do so.”
Superman, starring Corenswet as Clark Kent, marks the start of Gunn’s new-look DC Universe. The movie also stars Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Gunn defended the latest teaser trailer after fans had concerns about CGI altering Corenswet’s face.
Gunn said, “There is absolutely zero CG in his face. People’s faces can look different when you put a wide-angle lens up close. The background plate in Svalbard is 100% real as is David.”
Holy hell, this lawsuit could play havoc with the release of Gunn’s Superman in Canada. But you gotta think, they’ll work something out with the estate, right? Everyone will (hopefully) win-win-win.
