DC Has Notes And Sketches For A Replacement SUPERMAN In Case They Lose The Rights

While the courts are seemingly ruling in favour of Warner Bros. and DC Comics in their recent legal wrangling's with the heirs of the creators of Superman and more, a reliable source reveals that the publisher has plans in place for a replacement Man of Steel should things go wrong for them.

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By Josh Wilding - 1/31/2013

Unless you've kept up with every stage of DC Comics' ongoing legal battle with the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster over the last couple of years (or have a law degree), it's not difficult to become confused over what the future has in store for the Man of Steel. A worst case scenario would be that the heirs get everything that makes Superman, well, Superman, while DC would be left only with the name. Now, a recent victory for the latter means that this more than likely is NOT going to ever happen. However, the ever reliable folks over at Bleeding Cool reveal that they have learned that there is indeed a plan in mind should this come to pass.

Superman does seem to be in the courts a lot this month, ahead of the upcoming movie. Are Warner Bros lawyers getting all their ducks in a row? I also heard that, in preparation for a possible loss of rights to Superman, that DC Comics had prepared notes ad sketches on a new Superman – using the trademarked name but with a completely different back story and even appearance...

It's interesting to wonder what this would ultimately involve. Would we get a proper send off for Superman or would he simply vanish from comic book store shelves? What we would be left with is a Superman who has a totally different origin story and appearance, while the fate of the character we all know and love - who would no longer have a name - would surely be up for grabs by comic and film companies! Be sure to sound off with your thoughts on this in the usual place.

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78 Comments

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	superotherside - 1/31/2013, 9:20 AM Login to report abuse WITW! Hope they don't loose the rights!
	blvdnoise - 1/31/2013, 9:20 AM Login to report abuse It would never fly.. (pun intended)
	superotherside - 1/31/2013, 9:20 AM Login to report abuse That shadow of the "replacement" Superman is terrible BTW! Does he have long wispy hair? WITW?
	SuperDude001 - 1/31/2013, 9:22 AM Login to report abuse A replacement Superman would suck. I also don't see what the heirs would do with him. I don't know, Superman just better not change.
	INFO - 1/31/2013, 9:26 AM Login to report abuse NOOOO I swear if DC looses the rights im gonna boycott this new superman title till DC gets the rights back,naww im just bluffing but DC if you loose everybody's gonna be mad at you and sales on superman will probably drop.
	GhostZillaRider - 1/31/2013, 9:26 AM Login to report abuse @superotherside- That shadow is of Doomsdsay, not the potential replacement.
	REDSTORM - 1/31/2013, 9:27 AM Login to report abuse I'd imagine they'd just use Superboy.
	johan02 - 1/31/2013, 9:30 AM Login to report abuse @superotherside thats not the replacement Superman its Doomsday, its from when they killed Supes off in the 90s. As for a new Superman I cant see how it would work. Besides they just did the whole "new 52" thing and changed Supes look, it would really be stupid to go and have to explain a whole new OTHER Superman.
	UltimateHunt - 1/31/2013, 9:33 AM Login to report abuse DC can't live without SuperMan and Batman (they are the ONLY "cool" characters) you can tell by how many films both have and if they loose the rights of Superman well when that happens then DC has my permission to die, wait, what about JLA? the movie they are rushing to keep up with marvel, will Superman be there? it will suck if he is not. DAMN than hopefully DC wont loose him
	thalidomide - 1/31/2013, 9:35 AM Login to report abuse lmao @ gusto!! It'll NEVER happen.
	CASH - 1/31/2013, 9:37 AM Login to report abuse There is no such thing as a "Replacement" for Superman. It's NOT Superman. Period.
	SUPERSHADOWBAT - 1/31/2013, 9:39 AM Login to report abuse I cannot imagine comics without Superman. The Superman we know and love, let's hope it doesn't go there.
	PC04 - 1/31/2013, 9:39 AM Login to report abuse @superotherside Thats Doomsday's shadow.... Get glasses
	SUPERSHADOWBAT - 1/31/2013, 9:40 AM Login to report abuse Nice to have you back Gusto.
	SupermanP33v3 - 1/31/2013, 9:40 AM Login to report abuse Guys, The replacement Superman could not be anything related to the current Superman since that is what DC would be losing the rights to. They would lose the rights to Krypton, and Lois Lane, and Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. They would be able to keep the Superman Shield but they would lose the Blue and Red color scheme. All this stuff was listed a while ago. And why, may I ask, would people be angry with DC if they lost. The way I see it is that it is the heirs who are fighting to rip Superman apart. They already have a huge settlement that is an ongoing payment that WB has offered a long time back after the courts ruled that WB owns the rights... for all those people saying WB is the bad guy here, it simply is not true, they have been very kind to the heirs but the lawyers keep coming to them saying "I can get you more." This is not about WB steeling Superman from the creators, WB has been paying (Or had been paying until the heirs took them to court again.) We would not just lose Superman but the whole Super family.
	FennecPilot - 1/31/2013, 9:41 AM Login to report abuse [frick]ing lawyers and greed. Sickening that this is now the norm. And who suffers? The fans and public. Shameful.
	JohnnyKrypton - 1/31/2013, 9:41 AM Login to report abuse "DC Comics had prepared notes ad sketches on a new Superman – using the trademarked name but with a completely different back story and even appearance..." Er...BESIDES the New52?
	SteveRogersSon - 1/31/2013, 9:43 AM Login to report abuse Waiting for LP4 to come in here and do his pathetic lamb blasting against the family....hattr
	SteveRogersSon - 1/31/2013, 9:43 AM Login to report abuse @ JohnnyKrypton..>ZING!!!! Excellent!
	MatchesMalone - 1/31/2013, 9:44 AM Login to report abuse "That shadow of the "replacement" Superman is terrible BTW! Does he have long wispy hair? WITW?" Wow, dude. Really?
	SKetCH - 1/31/2013, 9:44 AM Login to report abuse At least us Marvelites will still have Hyperion... wait, is that a good thing?
	ahhmynuts - 1/31/2013, 9:44 AM Login to report abuse f*ck those guys man. superman belongs to the people!
	Natetrix79 - 1/31/2013, 9:44 AM Login to report abuse No drawings to go with the story???? Come on Bleeding Cool....That's just not cool!
	rbfn04 - 1/31/2013, 9:45 AM Login to report abuse The "replacement" Superman is DCnU's Superman.
	SupermanP33v3 - 1/31/2013, 9:45 AM Login to report abuse Oh, and, I am glad this will most likely not be happening but am I the only one who is curious to see these sketches and to know what the plan was going to be?
	TheHeat - 1/31/2013, 9:46 AM Login to report abuse I'd rather have Mr. Majestic be Superman. Clark Kent/Kal-El bores me.
	SupermanP33v3 - 1/31/2013, 9:47 AM Login to report abuse The New 52 had NOTHING to do with the court case... if WB loses then the New 52 Superman and all other incarnations are gone... he wouldn't even be called "Superman"
	ahhmynuts - 1/31/2013, 9:51 AM Login to report abuse just saying but those drawings of the replacement superman are probably be worth some dough in the future
	SuperSpidey - 1/31/2013, 9:53 AM Login to report abuse I for one am quite curious what this new origin and appearence are.
	Nevermender - 1/31/2013, 9:53 AM Login to report abuse I like the fact DC has a prepared contingency just in case. Even though it probably won't happen, at least there would be a nice transition rather than a forced and abrupt story arc. I'd likely buy every issue involving it.
	Azrael725 - 1/31/2013, 9:53 AM Login to report abuse I don't understand what the family is trying to accomplish by get rights to Superman. Making the fans suffer for their own selfish reasons? I'm assuming they must get royalties as it is so I just don't get it.
	SageMode - 1/31/2013, 9:56 AM Login to report abuse I thought the case was already settled in favor of WB
	FightmasterNoel - 1/31/2013, 9:59 AM Login to report abuse [frick] THAT! Why would THEY get the rights? The creators made him FOR Action comics which is now DC comics. But besides they got NO LEGAL RIGHt! If this happens i not only lose faith in the US Governmant but in humanity itself....seriously.
	2Challa - 1/31/2013, 10:03 AM Login to report abuse That would suck if they lost and had this "epic" movie shelved because of it.
	Greenlantern1417 - 1/31/2013, 10:11 AM Login to report abuse Well, first I thought this case had already been settled, and second, didn't they already change him to the point he's no longer the same character? I mean, he's not into Lois, he doesn't work for the daily planet. He really has no substance that I can since when reading. He's kinda cold and he doesn't even really look like Superman anymore. He's either wearing jeans or pajamas with a belt. Also they're just gonna call him The Man Of Steel, like in the up coming movie. Where his suit looks even less like Superman. Jimmy Olsen is a girl, and not to be completely bigoted, but is Perry White, gonna be Perry Black? I've said it before, this movie looks great, but it's not Superman. And neither is the guy in the comics.
	darkspark - 1/31/2013, 10:11 AM Login to report abuse They already own Majestic using him would be way easier than coming up with someone new. Just tweak a few things like costume and origin and you have a new Superman.
	SchoolieD - 1/31/2013, 10:14 AM Login to report abuse The only reason to get the rights would be to license Superman to WB/DC, so that the family still gets paid, and Sups is still in print. There'd be no reason to get the rights, and never make any more money off of him. If WB/DC decided to not buy the license to publish Superman, someone else would, and we might end up with something even better than the poor bastard they've been running into the ground since forever.
	6of13 - 1/31/2013, 10:15 AM Login to report abuse Gusto caved!
	pud333 - 1/31/2013, 10:18 AM Login to report abuse I thought both cases were won by WB/DC. So all this is pointless. However, that said, I am sure WB would still want to use the existing version of Superman even if they lost the rights; they would just have to pay for it. The problem though would be if WB lost the bidding, and all of a Sudden Superman shows up on the Avengers or something like that. How nutty woud that be?
	AmericanPsychoWolf - 1/31/2013, 10:18 AM Login to report abuse Well at least its over and we can move on with the real Superman.
	niknik - 1/31/2013, 10:26 AM Login to report abuse if the families get the rights back you can bet your a$$ will lease the character to some big spender like Disney.
	coolguy - 1/31/2013, 10:29 AM Login to report abuse @superotherside do you not know doomsday?
	nikgrid - 1/31/2013, 10:31 AM Login to report abuse @Gusto - That guy has a "G" on his chest? Is that like a self portrait or something, if so well done!
	Nomis1800 - 1/31/2013, 10:37 AM Login to report abuse They better hold on tight to the rights.
	BlackIceJoe - 1/31/2013, 10:39 AM Login to report abuse Seeing as DC still owns Superman I wonder if they might make a story for this guy. I so would like to know who would have taken up the name Superman instead of the old Superman. This could make an interesting plot point for DC Comics. So I want to know this new Superman's back story.
	hush - 1/31/2013, 10:43 AM Login to report abuse If DC still own the rights to the name and the shield then they have what they need. I'd hate to see DC Superman-less 'cause I love Big Blue, but worse case scenario Conner Kent becomes Superman and gets a redesign. Perhaps go back to the black and red with jeans, or black and red only. In fact, as much as I hate to say it, this would probably be the most interesting Superman storyline for years.
	FlixMentallo21 - 1/31/2013, 10:45 AM Login to report abuse RRRRRrrrrrrrr................to both the heirs of Siegel and Shuster, and DC/Warner Brothers: GIVE ME A CO-OWNERSHIP DEAL BETWEEN YOU TWO, OR GIVE ME DEATH! THIS I COMMAND! Someone PLEASE pass this along to either party, I demand it! (I'm serious.)
	SimpleObserverOfThings - 1/31/2013, 10:50 AM Login to report abuse Well, this won't fly __ It wouldn't have the same impact that Superman has made throughout the years, everything would change for DC comics. This would damage the company, not to the point of them going under, but they will lose a lot of dedicated fans. My anger towards the creators is that they are simply at the point where they're just being selfish and regretful. Unlike Bob Kane who was smart about creating Batman and making sure he gets his money out of that name, the Siegel brothers chose the quick way to make money before seeing the potential that Superman would have ultimately become. Now that DC and Warner Bros. are racking in the money, they want a piece of the pie now. I would rather them try to work it out with DC to see if they can come up to an agreement that would benefit DC and the brothers so they can end this nonsense. There's no way they can replace Superman and if the brothers win, what are they going to do, sell the rights back? DC won't buy it back from them, and if Marvel took the rights, that would just be stupid. This whole thing is just a waste of time and the brothers should just admit that they were dumb, didn't make good judgements when they gave the full rights to DC not knowing how they could have done it like Bob Kane.
	Coolkid - 1/31/2013, 10:56 AM Login to report abuse Will it affect Man of steel movie..???!!!
	Angiee3924 - 1/31/2013, 11:05 AM Login to report abuse I would be depressed if they were to lose in court. DC has always have the rights to Superman and that shouldn't change for any reason. Henry Cavill seems as if he was made for the role of Superman! I know for sure that with Chris Nolan being one of the producers of this movie that this movie would make so much money so I just hope they win and it doesn't have to come to Superman being taken away from each and every one of us that loves Superman.
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