The Curse of Superman: The Tragedy Behind the Cape

A new Superman movie is flying into theaters this weekend. Fans are lining up to see Truth, Justice, and the American Way on the big screen once again. But behind the red cape and the superpowers lies a long, tragic history. One that begins not with an actor in a cape, but with two young creators and a $130 check.

This is the true story of the Superman Curse. And it starts in Cleveland.

1938: Superman Is Born and the Creators Are Cut Out

1940s: Superman Grows While His Creators Are Pushed Out

By the 1940s, Superman was a sensation. There were newspaper strips, radio shows, animated serials, and endless merchandise. Siegel and Shuster were still writing stories but tensions with DC escalated. Siegel sued for the rights to Superboy in 1948 and won a small settlement. But the cost was high.

The company removed their names from Superman stories and ended their creative involvement. They were no longer credited as the creators of their own character.

1950s: Desperation, Letters, and the First Curse

By the 1950s, Joe Shuster was nearly blind and living in poverty. Jerry Siegel was living in a cramped apartment, unemployed, and growing angrier with each passing year.

In 1951, Siegel began writing furious letters to DC executives, including company president Harry Donenfeld and editor Jack Liebowitz. He accused them of destroying his career, ruining his life, and taking everything from him.

In one letter, he wrote:

“As long as I live, and afterwards, I shall haunt you and yours. Before God, I put a curse on you.”

Another letter contained white powder, which alarmed DC executives enough to send it to a lab. It turned out to be cornstarch. But the symbolism was impossible to miss. Siegel felt he had been robbed, and he wanted everyone to know.

He even wrote a bitter poem:

“Because of you
There’s no food in the house
Because of you
My life’s a wreck.”

Superman wasn't just huge in the comic world in the 1950s, there was also a national television show that ran for six seasons. While they were making preparations for the seventh season, the Superman Curse took its first alleged victim, the actor playing The Man of Steel himself.

1959: The Mysterious Death of George Reeves

George Reeves was the first Superman for a generation of postwar American children. Starring in the popular television series Adventures of Superman from 1952 to 1958, Reeves became a household name. To young viewers, he wasn’t just playing Superman,  he was Superman. But on June 16, 1959, Reeves was found dead in his Benedict Canyon home from a gunshot wound to the head. He was only 45 years old.

The official ruling was suicide. But from the beginning, the case was surrounded by suspicion. Reeves’ fingerprints were never found on the gun. There were bruises on his body. The bullet hole in the floor and the multiple versions of the events from people in the house that night only deepened the mystery. Rumors swirled that he had been murdered, possibly connected to his affair with the wife of a powerful MGM executive. Others speculated that Reeves, frustrated with being typecast and unable to find work outside of the cape, had taken his own life in despair.

The book Hollywood Kryptonite from 1997 posits that Reeve was a murdered, while the 2006 film, Hollywoodland, a fictionalized account of Reeves' sad demise starring Ben Affleck and Adrien Brody leaves the actor's fate more up in the air. In either case, a popular actor connected to Superman dies tragically.

1959 to 1965: A Brief Return and a Bitter Exit

In 1959, Siegel was rehired by DC. He wrote for Superman titles and Legion of Super-Heroes stories. But he was routinely mocked by editor Mort Weisinger and humiliated in the office. In 1965, Siegel tried to sue again and lost. That ended his relationship with DC permanently.

1975: The Curse Goes Public

When Siegel found out that Warner Bros. was making a blockbuster Superman movie, he issued a manifesto. He mailed it to major newspapers and comic book organizations.

In that document, he declared:

“I, Jerry Siegel, the co-originator of Superman, put a curse on the Superman movie. I hope it super-bombs. I hope loyal Superman fans stay away from it in droves. I hope the whole world, becoming aware of the stench that surrounds Superman, will avoid the movie like a plague.”

He was 61 years old, working as a clerk-typist in California, making $7,000 a year. Joe Shuster, the artist who created Superman's unique look, was legally blind at this point and living destitute with his brother in New York City.

1978: A Blockbuster Success and the Curse Begins to Take Hold

The film was a hit. Superman became a cinematic icon once again. But the bad luck suffered by some of the actors in the years following the production led rumors of Siegel's "curse" coming to fruition.

Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the films from 1978 to 1987, suffered a tragic horseback riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed. He died in 2004 at just 52 years old.

Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane, publicly struggled with bipolar disorder. She died in 2018.

Lee Quigley, who portrayed baby Kal-El in the 1978 film, died at age 14 from solvent abuse.

Marlon Brando, who played Superman's father, Jor-El, had turmoil in his own life. Christian was convicted of manslaughter after killing his sister Cheyenne’s boyfriend. Cheyenne later died by suicide in 1995 and Brando would withdraw from public life until his death in 2004.

Richard Pryor, who starred in Superman III, battled drug addiction and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He died in 2005.

Gene Hackman, the memorable Lex Luthor, had a terrible end in 2025, dying in New Mexico of Alzheimer's and heart disease, passing away alone after his wife suddenly died in the bathroom a few days before and there was no one to find them.

Justice, At Last?

The media outcry surrounding Siegel’s curse, and a campaign led by comic artist Neal Adams, eventually pushed Warner Bros. to act. In 1975, they gave Siegel and Shuster a modest pension of $20,000 per year, medical coverage, and reinstated their byline on Superman comics.

It was a symbolic victory. But it came too late to repair what had been lost.

In a 1981 interview, Siegel said:

“Sometimes I feel like half a corpse rescued from a horrible old age.”

Joe Shuster passed away in 1992. Jerry Siegel died in 1996.

Today: A New Superman Rises, but the Past Still Haunts

As a new Superman movie flies into theaters, the question returns. Will this reboot escape the curse?

Maybe it is all coincidence. Maybe not. But Superman’s legacy will always carry the weight of the injustice at its origin. A character who stood for justice was built on a foundation of exploitation. Two young men created a god and were left behind as others got rich.

Jerry Siegel’s words remain a warning.

“When you eat, and drink, and have shelter, remember that the man you destroyed is faced with poverty. When you celebrate at your Christmas party, remember that I will be there in spirit, walking by your side and asking: Why have you done this to another human being?”

The Real Curse

The Superman Curse is not just about tragedy. It is about the cost of creative theft. It is about the pain of watching your idea become bigger than you could ever imagine, while you are left out of the story. While the tragedies that befell both the Superman actors might not be out of the ordinary, the toll that selling the rights to Superman took on Jerry Sieegel and Joe Shuster certainly were. 

The real origin story of the Man of Steel may not be a real curse, but like many ghost stories, it serves as a warning to watch out who you trust. Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created the most popular superhero in the history of comic books, and while others got wealthy off Superman, it took them years of fighting and "cursing" to get what they deserved.