Would you call the competition between Marvel Studios and Warner Bros/DC Comics a war? Probably not. More like a semi-friendly (not really) rivalry.
Except WB escalated things earlier this year, when they delayed their long-awaited Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, from next July to May of 2016. And the spot they had chosen in May- the sixth, to be precise- had already been slotted for a Marvel pic, at the time, an unknown one, but now revealed to be Captain America 3.
That was the first shot. But Warner was not thinking clearly, and that ended up being a shot they fired into their own foot. Because Marvel can take a hit on Cap 3 and keep on chugging along, but if WB doesn’t knock BvS:DoJ out of the park, their whole expanded universe idea goes kaput.
The studios had a brief staring contest, but let’s be frank here: there was no way Warner Bros was going to win this. They are the noobie, and they just bet everything they had against the pros that have already made six and a half billion dollars.
Today, the game is over. WB blinked; they folded; they used whatever metaphor for “lose” that you’d like- the studio just changed Batman v Superman’s release date to March 2015, 2016.
But WB is not a modest studio, and they couldn’t just accept that they lost this game. So they also went ahead and announced eleven new superhero movies.
Here’s the list:
Untitled DC Film – 08/05/16
Untitled DC Film – 06/23/17
Untitled DC Film – 11/17/17
Untitled DC Film – 03/23/18
Untitled DC Film – 07/27/18
Untitled WB Event Film – 11/16/18
Untitled DC Film – 04/05/19
Untitled DC Film – 06/14/19
Untitled DC Film – 04/03/20
Untitled DC Film – 06/19/20
Untitled WB Event Film – 11/20/20
Seriously? This is not a good idea. Man of Steel did OK at the box office, but it didn’t do well enough to justify eleven in-universe sequels. Call me a pessimist, but this is not going to go well for Warner Bros. or DC. At all.
Marvel continues to make more and more money with each passing franchise because they’re putting out quality films. From what we’ve seen of Batman v Superman, it ain’t no quality film.
Who’s willing to bet WB won’t make it through all eleven films? Anyone?
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