Marvel Settles With Steve Ditko’s Estate Over Spider-Man, Doctor Strange Rights

Marvel has settled the battle over its rights to Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, settling the lawsuit from Steve Ditko’s estate. THR reports that lawyers for both Marvel and Ditko’s heirs notified the court on Wednesday that they’ve reached an amicable settlement and will be filing for dismissal with prejudice in the coming weeks.

Ditko passed away in 2018, but he was famously at odds with Marvel over the rights to the characters he co-created. Marvel filed lawsuits back in September in 2021 seeking to squash copyright termination notices by on behalf of Larry Lieber and the estates of Ditko, Don Heck, Don Rico, and Gene Colan. The termination notices were for a host of characters including Thor, Iron Man, Ant Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Falcon, and Blade. The termination notices would not have prevented Marvel from using the characters, but they would have require the studio to make payments in order to use them.

Marvel had settled the disputes for everyone except Ditko’s estate up to this point. Details on the settlement have not been revealed.