Batman Blinks, America Wins

And we have a winner!

      A few months back, DC announced that it would be releasing their first real stab at continuity in films, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which incidentally is still an awful title, but nowhere near as bad as Terminator fucking Genisys, on May 6, 2016. Problem was, Marvel Studios had plans to releases an as-of-then untitled movie on that day as well. Marvel swiftly answered what was DC obviously thought was them saying they weren't afraid by slapping DC in the face with their dick. Or more appropriately Steve Roger's dick as the announced Captain America 3 was the movie challenging Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Probably Aquaman/Maybe Cyborg/Probably Not Dr. No-Face.

      Now, after a tense few months staring contest, DC finally blinked, presumably because they realized Marvel could at this point make an Ego the Living Planet movie and still make a shit-ton of money and has now officially moved the release date of their big tentpole. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will now be released on March 25, 2016 and Eddie Murphy is out there somewhere crying because God really hates the idea of Beverly Hills Cop 4. 

      Now, first things first. Marvel won. DC are afraid and Marvel took down their biggest rival. Marvel wins. And while, yes, I am more of a Marvel guy, I do love me some DC, so news that we are getting Batman/Superman two months early is like Christmas morning, except still two years away. Plus, now neither studio is likely to take a big hit, so DC will continue on and Captain America will fight on no matter what. But it is interesting to note a few things. One, this really is DC finally acknowledging that Marvel is king and they are not yet big enough to directly challenge them. Which is fine, I mean, all they have now is the moderately-received Man of Steel to go off of. Secondly, with the announcement of nine other release dates for nine other untitled DC films, t's the first time I have the feeling that DC might actually have figured out what they are doing. That combined with their impressive showing at Comic-Con and I'm more excited for their cinematic universe than I've ever been. Things finally seem on the right track, so really, we all win.

      For now, here are the other release dates, with my guesses as to what they are:

August 5, 2016: Shazam (Presumably because this one seems the closest to beginning production and because it's a small enough character to justify an August release.)

June 23, 2017: Wonder Woman (DC gives use more Wonder Woman and may release a female-lead superhero movie before Marvel? Yeah, that's a good way to stick it to their competitor.)

November 17, 2017: Sandman (Again, this one's already in the works, plus again the lesser-knownness of the character makes the fall release make more sense.)

March 23, 2018: Aquaman (The Wrap's Jeff Sneider said that one of these films may be a stand-alone Aquaman, which if he's right, I'd say makes the most sense here.)

July 27, 2018: The Batman (Batman presumably has to get a solo film in somewhere, and a July release seems fit for DC's fan-favorite.)

November 16, 2018: Justice League (Listed not as a "DC film" like the others, but as a "WB Event Film", that hints that maybe the big team-up isn't so close to being made. Filming wise, if it's not back-to-back, it makes sense that it'd take Zach Snyder 2 years to make it.)

April 5, 2019: No Idea (Yeah, this date, plus some others you'll have to see below).

June 14, 2019: Man of Steel 2 (Superman goes solo again, hopefully after Justice League eases fans not happy with the first film.

April 3, 2020: No Idea

June 19, 2020: No Idea

November 20, 2020: World's Finest/Batman v Superman 2 (Bit of a stretch, but it did say "WB Event Film" again, so...)

      Again, those are only guesses. I don't have any clue as to what that other 2019 date is or what either of those 2020 dates are, maybe another character not announced, maybe Cyborg or maybe some other sequels, but that's really speculation. But, if I'm right, then DC will be doing awesome... hopefully. This means that they would get time to let almost each Justice League member get a film in before Justice League, with possibly The Flash and Green Lantern after. Following Batman v Superman immediately with Justice League is too much to fast and would create to rushed and messy a universe. So hopefully, this schedule means that DC are taking their time and aren't rushing to be Marvel. After all, they already lose once to them.