Screenwriter Christopher Markus on Captain America 3’s Showdown with Batman vs. Superman

The House of Ideas is taking on the Distinguished Competition in 2016. It was revealed yesterday that Marvel Studios will be releasing Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016. That’s the same day that Warner Bros. will unleash Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman. Will one of the comic book movies give up the date? Cap screenwriter Christopher Markus tells The Hollywood Reporter that he thinks one of them will.

“I think when two cars drive at each other,” he explains, “somebody has to veer off eventually… There’s always a level of expectation and Marvel keeps raising the bar higher and higher. But you have confidence that they’re going to make a good movie, you kind of let yourself go and allow yourself to be directed. And you really just become one small piece of the Marvel puzzle.”

Marvel was actually the first studio to claim the date last summer, albeit as a placeholder for a then-unrevealed feature. Warner Bros. threw down the gauntlet seven months later, delaying the Snyder film from its original July 17, 2015 date (a calendar spot that was immediately snatched by Marvel for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man).

Even if Marvel does end up being the studio to back down, their confidence in Captain America as a franchise should boost interest in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, hitting theaters domestically April 4. It has been revealed that the new film sets the stage for Avengers: Age of Ultron which, depending on how the narrative goes, will likely set the stage for Captain America 3.

Markus will be returning for Captain America 3, which he says is already moving forward.

“We’ve had many, many conversations, and pretty much know where we’re going,” he tells the outlet.

Coincidentally, 2016 also marks the 20th anniversary of “DC vs Marvel,” a four-issue company crossover during which contestants from both fictional universes where summoned and forced to do battle with only one universe allowed to triumph. Readers were allowed to vote in five main fights (Superman vs. Hulk, Wonder Woman vs. Storm, Lobo vs. Wolverine, Superboy vs. Spider-Man and, appropriately enough, Batman vs. Captain America). Although Batman and Superman each took down their opponent, Marvel won in every other match and emerged the overall victor. In a surprise move, however, neither universe was destroyed and both were instead merged to form “Amalgam Comics.” DC and Marvel co-published 24 issues (12 in 1996 and 12 in 1997) in which their iconic heroes and villains were combined.

Although, it’s pretty much a certainty that 2016’s big screen showdown will not have a similar conclusion, you can relive the Amalgam age of comics with our gallery viewer below: