Marvel announced plans to release an as-yet-untitled superhero movie on May 6, 2016. Six months later, Warner Bros. moved their Batman vs. Superman follow-up to Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel for the exact same date. Given Marvel hadn’t even announced what film they’d be releasing that day many assumed they’d probably shift off the early summer start date, but it is now quite apparent scheduling these release dates in advance is becoming more important to these studios.
Slashfilm has the coverage from the Captain America: The Winter Soldier junket where they spoke with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and when asked about the date he said, “We’re certainly keeping the date there and we’ll announce what that movie is, I assume, in the next few months.”
As Slashfilm notes, Comic Con is coming up in the next few months providing a perfect venue for the announcement. To which Feige added, “That would be great, I’d love nothing more than to be able to announce them all there. But if it’s ready beforehand, we’ll probably do it beforehand. If it’s not ready then, we’ll do it after.”
It’s easy to scoff at these release dates when they are announced, largely because films often move away from them. After all, Batman vs. Superman already moved off their previously planned July 17, 2015 release.
Speculation on which film could take that May 2016 date includes Thor 3, Captain America 3 or the Doctor Strange film that’s been in the news a little more as of late with a shortlist of possible directors made even shorter a couple days ago.
One thing this makes me wonder is whether or not we are getting close to a point where there just isn’t enough room for all of these movies. After all, three weeks after the DC and Marvel clash comes X-Men: Apocalypse and the budgets aren’t getting any smaller.
