If Warner Bros. were thinking about including the often told origins of The Man of Steel in the upcoming Superman movie (which remember, they have until 2011 to put into production or they won't be able to make a movie with the character, possibly forever) then a new court ruling has totally kicked them in the ass this week. Variety report that the Jerry Siegel estate (Superman's co-creator) "successfully recaptured" rights to aspects of the character on Wednesday...
including the first two weeks of the daily Superman newspaper comic-strips, as well as portions of early Action Comics and Superman comic-books. This means the Siegels -- repped by Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates -- now control depictions of Superman's origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.
All of the above are now as illegal to Warner Bros as Spider-Man and The Avengers - unless of course they can strike up a deal with the Siegel estate. By all intents and purposes, this new ruling might actually prove to be a blessing in disguise in terms of fulfilling the fans expectations for the new movie. The original Richard Donner film in 1978 is the best superhero origin movie of all time - it etched the beginnings of the character into the psyche of pop culture - everyone knows where Superman came from, and why he is here. Any re-telling of that cinematically is a waste of time because Donner's simple re-tellings will never been beaten. It forces Warner Bros. to actually make a movie with the character already established, which might actually prove to be a wonderful thing. VERY very interesting times in the future of Superman, to say the least. Warner Bros. will be desperate to milk out one more potential billion dollar movie by the 2013 release date deadline, and will no doubt be scrambling away to find a trusted writer/director partnership who can work to a high standard with strict deadlines. I wouldn't be all that surprised if they actually go with a Death of Superman storyline and kill the character off - showing the intent that they are through with him. As we've said before, in four years time, Superman could be in the Marvel film and comic book universe. But not only that - it's all game for other studios if they can strike a deal with the Siegels. Universal (Superman vs. Hellboy, or Superman vs. Dracula), Paramount (Superman vs. Transformers), 20th Century Fox (Superman vs. X-Men), Sony (Superman vs. 007), Lionsgate (Superman vs. Saw). Can you imagine a Walt Disney/Pixar Superman movie?!?!