An appeals court has delivered a huge victory to Warner Bros. that will likely allow the studio to control the future of the Superman franchise. On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal decided that a lower court was wrong to deny Warner Bros. subsidiary DC Comics' contention that it had a deal in 2001 with the estate of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel. As a result, a federal judge's 2008 decision to allow the Siegel estate to recapture Superman rights is about to be wiped out. The decision follows a ruling by a federal judge in October to deny the estate of Superman's other co-creator Joseph Shuster the ability to recapture their own portion of the Superman copyright. Together, the decisions mean that Warner Bros. can exploit the Superman franchise without fear of substantial legal hassles from the estates of Shuster and Siegel. That's significant because Warner Bros. is preparing to release this summer's big-budget Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan.