Warner Bros. has spent a good amount of time dealing with legal battles for the rights to Superman.The families of the character's creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, has been trying to get the comic book hero back for years, but this week a major event occurred: a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled in favor of Warner Bros., giving them full rights to the Man of Steel. And that's very important considering their plans to make a Justice League movie.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the victory in court will allow the studio to move forward with their plans to make a superhero team up movie of their own to rival Marvel's The Avengers. The current plans are to shoot the film next year and then have it ready to be released in 2015 (the same year that The Avengers 2 is scheduled). The project already has a script in the works, written by Gangster Squad scribe Will Beall, and they are actively looking for a cast and a director.
According to the newspaper's insiders, had WB lost the case against the Shuster and Siegel estates it would have prevented them from not only making a Justice League movie, but any Superman movies, television shows after 2013. This is because the rights to the character would have actually been split in two, with the creators getting rights to the costume and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and the studio keeping the rouges gallery and the hero's ability to fly. But who wants to see a Man of Steel movie with just those things?
The news is also good for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, which will now be able to spawn sequels, something that will come in handy should the 2013 title be a success.
