The battle between Marvel and DC is a very real thing, and while it was always pretty heated in the comics realm it has become a scorcher in Hollywood. But there's no debate Marvel has the upper hand in this war, which is why many expected Warner Bros. would eventually shift Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice off its May 6th 2016 date when it was scheduled to open opposite Captain America 3. While both sides played chicken for awhile, Warner Bros. has buckled and made the move, but at the same time they've managed to spin this into something positive and attention-grabbing.
Batman v Superman has been moved up two months to March 25th 2016, getting a jump on Marvel's third entry in their star-spangled superhero franchise. It's probably the smartest move they could make, especially with Captain America: The Winter Soldier ranking as one of the year's top-grossing films.
But the big news is that it won't be the only DC Universe film to open in 2016 as Warner Bros. has revealed their entire slate of dates all the way through 2010. Here's the rundown:
- August 5, 2016
- June 23, 2017
- November 17, 2017
- March 23, 2018
- July 27, 2018
-Untitled WB Event Film- November 16, 2018
- April 5, 2019
- June 14, 2019
- April 3, 2020
- June 19, 2020
-Untitled WB Event Film- November 20, 2020
This completely contradicts the proposed plan rumored a few weeks ago, which means we can probably count out the movies associated with it. Sorry, those of you who were hoping for that Green Lantern/Flash crossover.
An interesting thing to note are the two "Event" films set for 2018 and 2020. It's unclear if these are meant to be part of the DC Universe but they seem like a good spot for Guillermo Del Toro's Justice League Dark, which is meant to be independent of the regular continuity.
What all of this means is Zack Snyder has progressed pretty far on Batman v Superman, enough that he's comfortable losing a few weeks of post-production. It could also bode well for Justice League, which he's expected to shoot immediately following.
Meanwhile, WarnerBros. has also bumped Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar's Kingsman: The Secret Service to February 13th 2015 where it will face Fifty Shades of Grey.
