SuperMan Divorce!

They've killed Superman once, they've broken Batman's back, they've created gay superheroes but truth is always stranger than fiction.

In 2013 Detective Comics (DC) license of ownership on the Superman character expires. What you say? Well, quietly unbeknownst to most mortals there is a legal battle being waged between the Seigel heirs (family members to the Superman creators) and DC and Warner Brothers.

Marc Toberoff legal counsel to the Siegal heirs (creators of Superman) states, "This trial was only an interim step in the multifaceted accounting case which remains, in that it only concerned the secondary issue of whether DC Comics, or DC Comics and Warner Bros., would have to account to the Siegels," he said. "To put this in further perspective, the entire accounting action pales in comparison to the fact that in 2013, the Siegels, along with the estate of Joe Shuster, will own the entire original copyright to Superman, and neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros. will be able to exploit any new Superman works without a license from the Siegels and Shusters."

What does all this mean? It means the Siegels feel ripped off by the studio and the publisher. If they don't get what they want, they will take Superman and walk in 2013.

Speculation runs rampant on discussion boards with the mere thought that Superman could go to ...Marvel? Imagine Superman side by side with Spider-Man or Ironman or any Marvel character. Batman will have no one to team up with anymore.

The early word is that federal courts sided with Warner Brothers and DC on a ruling regarding their deals on Smallville and Superman Returns. From the looks of things the studios must start the next Superman film by 2011. Meanwhile many are speculating that this is the beginning of the end of Superman under the DC publication. Time will tell.