Penciller and aggrieved Batman writer Chris Wozniak is going to trial with his lawsuit against Warner Bros. He announced this on X not too long ago, and the creator believes he has a tenable chance at victory. He wrote in a series of posts that he is tired of the threats from their lawyers and that they have no legs in this case.
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“Warner Bros and DC Comics attorneys are embarrassingly still making the same threats they started out with. I thought I was clear at the start. I’m here for the long haul. We’re going to TRIAL,” Wozniak wrote in his initial post using the hashtag #BatmanGate. In the past year, he was threatened with legal action for writing an “unsolicited” Batman story.
He, of course, worked at DC Comics when he penned the treatment he pointedly claims was ripped off by the studio. It went unpublished but was emailed to Batman movie producer Michael Uslan in 2008, according to Wozniak, as an idea for a film.
The essence of Wozniak’s grievance is that Uslan or some party took the treatment to Matt Reeves for rewrites.
Wozniak has gone to great lengths to prove this through YouTube videos and social media since last year. He has made a strong case in the minds of his supporters and comic book veterans like Chuck Dixon. They believe Wozniak not only has a case but that he will be helped by Warner’s current crises.
“[T]hey don’t have the leverage they think they have,” wrote an X user who linked to a Deadline article about production woes amidst the SAG and WGA strikes. Wozniak replied in agreement, declaring, “They really don’t. We don’t get the arrogance, but whatever. Learn your lessons the hard way.” He hopes to teach them that lesson and get his restitution at the same time.
“I offered to let them off easy, more than once. But they want to be taught a lesson. No problem. I’m happy to whip that a**,” he reiterated in another reply.
Wozniak posted last year on Facebook that he “can indisputably prove my story is onscreen.” Moreover, the fact Warner is trying to copyright his story instead of denying the claims speaks volumes.
“There would be no point in Warner Bros/DC Comics wanting to own my story if it was never used [to make The Batman],” he pointed out at the time.