FUCK YEAH SUPERMAN!

According to AintItCoolNews, Superman is due to make an appearance in 2011’s Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. In other news, Jackie Earle Haley is reported to be the leading candidate to play villain Sinestro.

Almost too much awesome to go around. I think that a Superman cameo, ala RDJ in Incredible Hulk would be a brilliant way to amp people up for a new Superman flick. I also hope that they continue to use Brandon Routh and not go for a full blown re-boot. Despite a lackluster film, I feel like Routh was a more than cape-able (get it?) Man of Steel.

Judge deprives DC, WB of certain storylines

Warner Bros. and DC Comics have lost a little more control over the Man of Steel.

In an ongoing California court battle over Superman, Judge Stephen Larson issued a ruling Wednesday that awards the family of the superhero’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel, rights to additional works, including the first two weeks of the daily Superman newspaper comicstrips, as well as portions of early Action Comics and Superman comicbooks.

This means the Siegels now control depictions of Superman’s origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-L and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-L, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash.

After a court order reverted rights to the Siegels in 2008, they owned the basis of the Superman character, including his costume, his alter-ego as reporter Clark Kent, the feisty reporter Lois Lane, their jobs at the Daily Planet newspaper working for a gruff editor, and the love triangle among Clark/Superman and Lois.

But that didn’t give them the full Superman copyright because DC owns other important elements like Superman’s ability to fly, the term kryptonite, the Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White characters, Superman’s vision powers and expanded origins.

The confusion exists because Superman first appeared in 1938 in Action Comics No. 1, which was sold by Siegel and co-creator Joel Schuster to DC. Everything after that was a work-for-hire, owned by DC.

While ownership of the Man of Steel is one point of all this legal activity, the real issue is money and how much Warner Bros. and DC owe the Siegels from profits they collected from Superman since 1999, when the heirs legally took back half of the Superman copyright. Schuster does not retain rights because he did not have any heirs.

“Warner and DC Comics are pleased that the court has affirmed that the vast majority of key elements associated with the Superman character that were developed after Action Comics No. 1 are not part of the copyrights that the plaintiffs have recaptured and therefore remain solely owned by DC Comics,” said Warner Bros. and DC in a statement.

However, copyright law dictates that full ownership of Superman goes back to the Siegels in 2013. That will give them the chance to set up Superman pics, TV shows and other projects at another studio.

If they want to get a new “Superman” or even “Justice League” pic featuring the superhero, Warner Bros. and DC will be forced to go into production by 2011.