Several months ago, Marvel Studios announced that it wold be releasing at least two films in 2016, the first on May 6 and the second on July 8, although it didn’t reveal what those films would be. Soon after, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. announced that they were delaying their big budget superhero film Man of Steel 2, commonly known as Batman vs Superman, and that it would also be released on May 6, setting up a game of chicken to see which studio would blink first and move.
Most assumed it would be Marvel. The studio claimed the date, but didn’t have anything to back it up. Earlier this week though, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige claimed that Marvel had no intention of giving up the date, and shortly after sources close to Marvel confirmed to THR that the film in question that is poised to challenge Batman and Superman will be a third Captain America movie.
Although the second Captain America movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, won’t hit theaters until April 4, Marvel has already shown a lot of confidence in the film. It still needs to deliver at the box office, of course, but early reactions have been positive – so much so that Marvel has already talked to directors Anthony and Joe Russo about returning for a third film.
One of the studios will almost certainly change the date of its film. It would ultimately hurt both productions to open on the same weekend, as they’d be stealing audiences from each other. The question though, is who will blink first. WB and DC currently have the inside track, as Man of Steel 2 is set to begin filming this month, while production on a third Captain America film wouldn’t begin for months. Star Chris Evans is locked in to return for a sequel, but even if everything were ready to go tomorrow, he is committed to The Avengers: Age of Ultron first, which began filming in February.
Still, with Feige seemingly adamant that it won’t be Marvel that gives up the date, May 6, 2016 just became a very interesting day.
