‘Superman’ is facing a lawsuit over its plans for a worldwide release

By Joe Allen Published February 1, 2025

The first trailer for Superman got plenty of people excited about James Gunn’s vision for the iconic superhero. News of a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery over the movie’s release, though, might mean that the movie isn’t available in some countries.

The lawsuit comes from the estate of Joseph Shuster, one of the original creators of Superman, and seeks to prevent the release of the movie in certain key territories, including Canada, Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Mark Warren Peary, the estate’s executor, filed the lawsuit and claims that the studio doesn’t have the right to distribute the movie in those territories. The suit seeks  “damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ ongoing infringement” as well as “declaratory relief establishing the Shuster Estate’s ownership rights across relevant jurisdictions.”

Warner Bros. Discovery has responded to the lawsuit saying that they are ready to fight it in court and that they “fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit.”

The lawsuit is based on copyright laws in those countries, which state that copyright reverts to the estate of the owner 25 years after their deaths. Since Shuster and his co-creator Jerry Siegel have both been dead longer than 25 years, the lawsuit alleges that the studio has to seek the estate’s permission to release the movie in those areas.

The suit requests a jury trial, saying that “defendants’ acts of direct infringement have been willful, intentional, and purposeful, in wholesale disregard of and indifference to the rights of Plaintiff.”

Warner Bros. has battled similar lawsuits from Peary in the past, but given the timing of this lawsuit, resolution will be key to ensure that the movie gets the global release it had planned.