Jerry Seinfeld claims The Lego Movie stole his Superman joke

The Lego Movie (2014). Image courtesy of Warner Brothers

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has stirred some controversy in accusing The Lego Movie of stealing his joke about Superman having issues with the Green Lantern.

Seinfeld pointed out the similarities in the joke on Twitter, saying:

I think Lego Movie stole my Superman has issues with Green Lantern bit from Amex Seinfeld and Superman webisode. Anyone else catch that?

— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) February 11, 2014

In Seinfeld’s webisode “Hindsight is 20/20” an animated Superman is annoyed by an older lady telling a story about Green Lantern and asking him if he knew the superhero.

In The Lego Movie Superman becomes infuriated by a clingy Green Lantern character that is desperate to be his friend, going as far as asking for Kryptonite to get away from him, somewhat of a different spin on the relationship between the two superheroes.

Seinfeld’s claim has met with some criticism online, with a number of people pointing out how the jokes vary in a number of ways, and Ricky Gervais replying to Seinfeld’s tweet with:

“@JerrySeinfeld: RT @rickygervais: Schindler's List stole a lot of my early stuff. You were so edgy then.” Yeah, but then I discovered money

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) February 11, 2014