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A new lawsuit could block the release of James Gunn’s Superman. According to the court filing, the claim would block Superman from releasing in “Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.”
The lawsuit was brought against DC Comics, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros Discovery by the estate of Superman’s co-creator, Joseph Shuster. Why? Because in the above countries, copyright law works differently. Worldwide rights terminate in those countries “25 years after an author’s death.”
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…
A WBD spokesperson said: “We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit, and will vigorously defend our rights.”
The estate has asked for a full cease and desist, as well as a trial by jury. Superman is scheduled to release worldwide on July 9, 2025. A long trial feels like it benefits the estate more than WBD.
Let’s look at 3 other times superhero movies faced controversy.
10 Best Superman Movies, Ranked
From vintage classics to modern epics, explore the best of Superman cinema.
3 Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Majors Out, Downey In
The Marvel Cinematic Universe had slowly built up Kang as the universe’s next big bad. First, he appeared at the end of Loki Season 1, as He Who Remains. Then Kang was the main antagonist of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he established himself as a Darth Vader-like figure who was incredibly powerful and terrifying.
All of that was set up for the fifth Avengers movie, Kang Dynasty, which would elevate Kang to a Thanos-level threat.
Everything was going according to plan, until Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors, faced criminal charges of harassment and reckless assault in the third degree. After he was found guilty, in December 2023, Marvel Studios parted ways with the actor.
It wasn’t until July 2024, following months of silence, that Marvel finally announced what would happen next. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now Avengers: Doomsday, with Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU, not as Tony Stark but as alpha-villain Victor Von Doom.
2 Man of Steel
Superman Breaks Something
2013’s Man of Steel had a sensational amount of excitement around it. It wasn’t just DC’s first real attempt to emulate Marvel’s cinematic universe, but also the first Son of Krypton movie since the poorly received 2006 film Superman Returns. The casting of Henry Cavil, someone who very much looked the part of a superhero, also had fans excited.
Zack Snyder had also gained quite a following after the success of Dawn of the Dead, 300, and Watchmen. He was a well-known visualist who would bring an elevated style that felt like a strong counterpunch to the safer cinematography of the MCU.
On the style-front, Man of Steel didn’t disappoint. It’s a visual feast. But the controversy came from Snyder’s choice to have Superman win the climactic fight by breaking the neck of the villain, General Zod. Taking a life went against the enshrined and entrenched moral compass that has defined Superman and made him the blueprint of the entire superhero concept. Fans were outraged.
Man of Steel caused a huge schism, as traditional fans rejected Snyder’s vision for the DC universe, while others thought it was bold and refreshing. The tension in the audience turned into conflict between Snyder and the studio, with the two at odds about how to proceed. The rift in vision would plague every DCU film for the next decade, until Warner Bros. Discovery decided to end the universe and let James Gunn start again.
1 The Dark Knight
The Heath Ledger Casting
Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, 2005, was a welcome return to a grounded, serious version of the Caped Crusader. The previous film was the outrageous Batman & Robin from 1997, which infamously had George Clooney in a suit with nipples.
Batman Begins was exactly the kind of tone and style so many Batman fans had been hoping for. Especially because it ended with a tease for the Joker being the villain in the yet-to-be-named sequel (The Dark Knight).
For over a year, fans in online communities debated who would be the best Joker. Then, in the summer of 2006, news broke. Heath Ledger would be Joker. Here are some comments from the Legion of Gotham message boards, from the day the rumor broke.
Batlaw: woof. (crossing my fingers this is false)! The Dark Knight: Ledger? o_0 The guy from [Brokeback Mountain]? No thanks. He’s a great actor but I definitely dont see him as Joker. darkclaw: oh well if this rumor is true, there goes the franchise! Severen: I hope to God that this rumor proves false, or that he turns down the role. The guy is an adequate actor at best, and usually less than [that], with all the screen presence of a wet fish.
To be fair, plenty of people were happy about Ledger, or at least willing to give him a shot. But there were many, many articles and comment sections where fans were baffled-to-enraged. Mostly because they saw Ledger as too pretty, or not talented enough, or were mad about his character in Brokeback Mountain.
Ledger would go on to deliver one of the greatest acting performances ever and win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Superman
“}]] A new lawsuit could threaten the release of James Gunn’s superman in several major countries. Read More