Captain America just took on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman simultaneously… and he won.
The internet freaked out a little bit when Warner Bros. announced that the preposterously titled Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would be released on May 6, 2016, the same date that Marvel Studios had already claimed for the release of Captain America 3. Many wondered whether putting Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios head-to-head would either force audiences to choose only one franchise (potentially damaging the other’s brand) or if one studio would simply lose the staring contest and shift their release date backwards and forwards.
Related: The First Official Image of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
It turns out the latter has happened: Warner Bros. has pushed the release date of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice forward to March 25, 2016, placing it in competition with (and potentially dooming) Brett Ratner’s reboot of Beverly Hills Cop, which had already singled out that date for the release of the fourth film in the Eddie Murphy franchise.
Warner Bros. is bound to encounter less competition before the big summer movie season begins, flooding the marketplace with competition, and that general release date worked perfectly well for Captain America: The Winter Soldier earlier this year, but it’s going to be hard for Warner Bros. to claim victory here, since they clearly decided that one of the most anticipated movies ever made would be at too much risk from the third Captain America.
Related: The Screenwriters of ‘Captain America 3’ Talk New Villains
Even so, the change in release date hardly seems like a vote of “no confidence.” Coming Soon has also released an update calendar of Warner Bros.’ superhero movies, which extends all the way to 2020 without actually revealing which film will be released on which date. The current schedule is, reportedly, as follows:
August 5, 2016
June 23, 2017
November 11, 2017
March 23, 2018
July 27, 2018
April 5, 2019
June 14, 2019
April 3, 2020
June 19, 2020
Warner Bros. also has two more event movies – although not necessarily related to DC comic book characters – scheduled for November 16, 2018 and November 20, 2020.
So clearly, Warner Bros. thinks pretty highly of the movie… or at least they think audiences will eat it up no matter how good it is. In any case, our geeky nightmare is over, and two major superhero franchises won’t be vying for our attentions on the same weekend, threatening the future of superhero cinema. For now.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
