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Things are looking pretty grim for the Man of Steel, at least when it comes to his future on the silver screen. As you might remember, Warner Bros, DC Comics, and the Siegel family have been tied up in court over who is entitled to what when it comes to the Man of Steel. While Warner Bros tentatively won the first round, they only have until 2011 to make a Superman movie before being sued for damages.

But a new ruling has cost Warner Bros and DC Comics pieces of the character. Superman is literally chopped into pieces between the Siegels, DC Comics, and Warner Bros which will do nothing but hurt in the long run. According to Variety, the Siegels have recaptured the rights to the first two weeks of the daily Superman newspaper strips, and portions of Action Comics and Superman comics. They apparently now control all depictions of Superman's origin story, which means they now own Krypton, its fiery destruction, Jor-El and Lora, and Kal El. In 2008, the Siegels recaptured the rights to the Superman character (which includes his costume and his alter-ego of Clark Kent), Lois Lane, the Daily Planet, its gruff editor, and their love triangle. DC still owns Jimmy Olson, his ability to fly, Lex Luthor, kryptonite, and Superman's expanded powers and origins.

I think the dust has pretty much settled on the story of the Superman reboot. Presumably, the Man of Steel's fate is being plotted out in those DC-Warner Bros meetings. Are they going dark and Christopher Nolan-ish? Is Bryan Singer in or out? Anyone penned a script yet? Like most of the DC properties, Superman seems to be sitting in uncomfortable limbo.

But at least one man is chugging right along -- Mark Millar has been talking for months about his Superman script, and the "big Hollywood action director" who wants to shop it around for him. Now, he's told Empire his big pitch and goal, which is nothing short of a Superman epic. Millar wants to make an 8-hour saga, split into three films, Lord of the Rings style. "It's gonna be like Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now ... I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers."

Wow. That's a reboot, all right. Somehow, I would expect nothing less in scope from the man who fed Daredevil and the Punisher to dinosaurs. (See Wolverine: Old Man Logan.) I think that sounds too exhausting to even contemplate -- but if there was a superhero to give an epic series to, it would probably be Superman. I'll hand it over to you to think about.

So much for Warner Bros really taking their time deciding what to do with the Man of Steel! Group President Jeff Robinov confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that they plan on rebooting the franchise, a'la The Incredible Hulk. "Superman [Returns] didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to," says Robinov. "It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

The plan is to release four comic book movies in the next three years -- including a third Batman (no word on whether Nolan is returning), a new Superman, and two other unnamed DC characters. Robinov also confirmed that Warner Bros plans to adopt the Marvel route of a single film for each character, and then building on those origin films to create crossover stories, rather than just jumping into the deep end of the Justice League pool. The only worrying part about Warner Bros new plan is that they are still drunk on The Dark Knight, and want their superhero films to follow that mold. Robinov feels that "exploring the evil side to characters" is the way to approach all the DC characters. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it." Including Superman.

As most of you noted in the comments, and as anyone distantly familiar with the character knows, a gritty approach is really not the one to take with Superman. He's the good old boy, an American icon, the complete opposite of Batman. He's also, arguably, one of the easiest characters to make into a family friendly comic book film. Superman is ideal for kids because he lacks the moral gray areas Batman revels in -- or should. I'm glad they're rebooting, but I'm wary of the dark direction they plan on taking.

[via SuperheroHype.com and thanks to Eli Gutierrez]

Please read and fully digest the following statement before you engage yourself with today's edition of the Geek Beat. It's written in bold, for extra emphasis. Don't miss it. Ready? Okay:

The following rant is in NO WAY meant to be anything resembling a political issue. This is not a politics blog, and the last thing I want to do is open that can of worms. Please don't read the title of this article and infer its contents. This is a geek rant, NOT POLITICS. Got it? Good, let's move on.

Perhaps you've heard the angry hubbub slowly brimming in the media about this. If you are an old school Superman fan, you noticed it yourself when you watched the movie, because it jumped right out and smacked you in the face. When discussing the return of Superman, a character pondered aloud if he still stood for "truth, justice, and all that stuff." And thanks to the old television show, just about everyone on earth knows that traditionally, Superman stood for "truth, justice, and the American way." Somehow, the former doesn't quite have the zing of the latter. The basic debate on the issue goes something like this:

Personally, I'd have thought Joss Whedon and Brian Michael Bendis in the same room, having a conversation would have caused the world to explode in a blazing ball of geek power. Since the world remains intact, I suppose I was incorrect in that assumption. The talk did, however, did result in a good update on Whedon's progress with Wonder Woman, which all things considered is probably a better result by far. So here's the deal on Whedon and his newest project:

It's "going well" and he is "loving life," but is having "enormous trouble" with the script, and has basically locked himself in his office in an attempt to finish it up. The second draft is nearly complete, and Whedon is very happy with it despite his crazy struggles. He is apparently extremely envious of Batman Begins, because Batman has all the cool stuff already built in -- he's got a great back story, a sweet rogues gallery, etc. Yes, it sounds a bit whiny, but given the context of the interview I think he was just trying to be silly. Also, no decisions have been made yet on casting, because they're waiting for a finalized script, which means the Wonder Woman rumor mill can continue unabated for at least a few more days. Last minute suggestions, anyone?

Here's a quickie for you DC fans. X-Men movie writer Simon Kinberg has a good relationship with the fans over at the XVerse Community Message Boards. He stops in from time to time to answer questions and discuss his opinions - primarily on his work with X-Men, but really on any subject that's thrown at him. You can swing over there to read his thoughts on the filming of X3; but in the meantime let me fill you in on a very interesting comment he made regarding a Green Lantern movie. In answer to a GL question, Kinberg confirmed that Warner Brothers is actively developing the feature (not secret knowledge by any means), but he went on to indicate that the WB people are so high on the project's potential that they're already discussing trilogy possibilities.

It shouldn't be a surprise; we all know that successful properties are almost immediately considered for enfranchisement, and super hero properties - thanks to their built in fan base and nearly unending well of characters and story lines - seem custom made for sequel potential. However, it is nonetheless pleasing to know that Warner Brothers has an active interest in the project. I've got my fingers crossed for a Hal Jordan lantern myself. Of course, who knows - maybe a trilogy would allow for some crazy Green Lantern Corps action.