Matt Reeves and Warner Bros reportedly being sued for plagiarising The Batman

A formal lawsuit has been filed against Matt Reeves and Warner Bros. for allegedly stealing the plot idea for The Batman (2022) from famed writer and penciler Chris Wozniak. Making the announcement on his X, the illustrator said that he thinks he has a realistic chance of winning.

According to Christopher Wozniak, the narrative of the hugely successful 2022 movie is almost exactly the same as the story he wrote about Batman in 1990 called "The Ultimate Riddle," which was eventually renamed "The Blind Man's Hat."

When Wozniak wrote the story that he adamantly maintains was stolen by the studio, he was employed at DC Comics. Although it never made it to print, Wozniak claims that in 2008, he showed the concept for a movie to Michael Uslan, the producer of The Batman.

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Christopher Wozniak claims he wrote The Batman first

Longtime comic book creator Chris Wozniak is best known for his artwork on titles including Blue Beetle, Excalibur, The Spectre, Justice League of America, Batman, and Superman. He has recently made news for suing Warner Bros. and Matt Reeves and DC Comics, alleging that they appropriated one of his ideas for a Batman comic book and utilized it to produce Matt Reeves's 2022 film The Batman.

Wozniak has been actively pursuing legal action against the studio for more than a year, and the matter has finally formally entered the legal arena. He filed the case on October 20, 2022, in New York Southern District Court.

On social media, the artist said the following:

“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.”

Since last year, Wozniak has gone to considerable measures to support his claims on social media and in YouTube videos. Fans and longtime comic book industry professionals like Chuck Dixon believe he has made a strong case. They believe that not only does Wozniak have a case, but that Warner Bros.'s present problems will work to his advantage.

According to the lawsuit, the stolen story revolves around a violent Riddler who terrorizes a "broken" Gotham City that is run by a criminal banking cartel and plagued by cop corruption.

Whole sequences from The Batman, starring Robbert Pattinson as Batman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, were allegedly taken from the book written by Wozniak.

The lawsuit claims that Wozniak, whose art has appeared in publications for DC and Marvel, sent the story to DC at least three different times since he produced it. According to the lawsuit, he gave it to movie producer Michael Uslan in 2008 after meeting him at New York Comic Con that same year.

In addition, Warner Bros attempt to copyright his narrative rather than refuting the allegations says a lot about the possibility that his assertions are genuine.