After Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie was released into the public domain, two very popular DC characters will also enter the public domain, Superman and Batman will also enter the public domain starting from 2034 and 2035 respectively, with Joker and Wonder Woman following them in 2036 and 2037.
As per US Copyright Laws, properties cannot be held by a single commercial entity for more than 95 years and hence, Superman and Lois Lane will enter the public domain in 2034, followed by Batman in 2035, the Joker in 2036 and Wonder Woman in 2037.
However, DC has been preparing for years for this inevitability – At a press event in 2023, James Gunn noted that the next Superman film will introduce characters from The Authority, a comic book series launched in 1999, in part because Superman’s copyright is about to expire.
So there is still plenty of time to release Comic-accurate films before we start seeing bizarre iterations.
The upcoming DC film Superman: Legacy will hit theaters in July 2025. The stellar cast also includes Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer and Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/ Green Lantern.
Senior Editor – Powered by an unhealthy love for coffee and gaming, Boris channels his obsessions straight into the heart of the gaming community. A die-hard fan of FPS and RPGs, if it goes boom, he’s playing it. Odds are he’s sipping coffee and blasting through an FPS right now.
