Marvel may lose 'Iron Man' & 'Spider-Man'?; Studio sues Stan Lee's heirs

Marvel, which is owned by Disney is now set to be indulging in a battle with the heirs of comic-book creators in order to retain the control of popular characters, Iron Man, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Falcon, Thor and Black Widow, among others.

According to reports on The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel is suing the heirs of some late comic book geniuses including Stan Lee, his brother and Marvel collaborator Lawrence Lieber, Steve Ditko and Gene Colan, Don Rico, Don Heck, to keep control over the 'Avengers' characters. The lawsuits, ask courts to declare that Disney has sole ownership of comics like The Avengers, Iron Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Strange Tales, and Tales of Suspense — including the characters and story elements that have formed the basis of the MCU.

As THR notes that the suits follow Lieber and others sending termination notices to reclaim part of the rights on the many Marvel characters.

If the studio loses the battle, they will have to share ownership of the characters who are worth billions.

In August, Ditko’s estate filed a notice of termination on Spider-Man. Under the termination provisions of copyright law, authors or their heirs can reclaim rights once granted to publishers after waiting a statutory set period of time.

According to the termination notice, Marvel would have to give up Ditko’s rights to its iconic character in June 2023.

Artists and authors, as well as their families, have fought repeated legal battles for the rights to iconic comics characters. Most recently, Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster made an unsuccessful termination attempt against DC.

As known, actor Robert Downey Jr. is done playing Iron Man in the Avengers series and actor Tom Holland has his third Spider-Man movie - Spider-Man: No Way Home set for release in Decembe

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