DC May Avoid Marvel Showdown by Moving 'Batman vs. Superman'

The rivalry between DC Comics and Marvel has been long, occasionally friendly but often ugly. As the two companies have taken to the cinematic arena it's only become more contentious. That competition promised to get cranked up a notch when DC slotted their Man of Steel sequel for May 6th 2016, the same date Marvel pegged for an untitled mystery film. That led to speculation that one of the studios would buckle and move their movie to a different date, but according to Marvel President Kevin Feige it won't be them. He tells Slashfilm....

"We’re certainly keeping the date there and we’ll announce what that movie is, I assume, in the next few months."

He has reason to talk tough considering the wealth of options at his disposal, and the fact that every one of their films has boomed since The Avengers. Warner Bros. and DC have some issues to work out, though. Jeremy Irons, recently signed to play Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman vs. Superman flick, has said the script isn't quite finished yet. If that's true it would lend some credence to a rumor surfacing at Judao saying Batman vs. Superman has been bumped forward a week to April 29th 2016.

The thing is, a week's lead time isn't going to offer much elbow room. They'll still be cannibalizing the same audience and neither film will do as well as they could. This is looking like a pretty comical situation developing and one worth keeping an eye on.