Superman vs Batman will open opposite Captain America 3

[Silver Nemesis]

It's been revealed that the previously untitled Marvel film scheduled for released on May 6 2016 is in fact the third Captain American film. Marvel bagged this date first, then DC moved the Superman/Batman movie to the same release date. Everyone thought Marvel would blink and reschedule their film's release, but it appears they're sticking to their guns.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mystery-solved-captain-america-3-688384

So it looks like Batman and Superman will go head to head against the Star-Spangled Avenger at the box office.

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

Oh great. So not much of a threat at all then for our DC lads. Brilliant. 

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's an interesting article from Forbes arguing that WB should move the release date to July.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/03/14/batmansuperman-will-lose-showdown-with-captain-america-3/

The basic gist of their argument is that Disney can afford to have one of their films underperform, whereas Warner Bros – with their entire DC cinematic universe hinging on this one movie – can't.

[riddler]

Now that cap 2 is out and getting such rave reviews, I wonder if this idea is backfiring.

Cap 2 really showed up the recent DC films on the proper way to make an action flick; they properly paced storytelling with action and alternated between the 2 or even intertwined both. Compare that to Man of Steel and Dark Knight Rises which featured long stretches without action and then had long drawn out action scenes. I suspect those who felt underwhelmed with the unfun DC films will enjoy Winter Soldier.

[johnnygobbs]

Now that cap 2 is out and getting such rave reviews, I wonder if this idea is backfiring.

Cap 2 really showed up the recent DC films on the proper way to make an action flick; they properly paced storytelling with action and alternated between the 2 or even intertwined both. Compare that to Man of Steel and Dark Knight Rises which featured long stretches without action and then had long drawn out action scenes. I suspect those who felt underwhelmed with the unfun DC films will enjoy Winter Soldier.

Is it a terrible thing for me to admit here that apart from Batman I generally prefer Marvel?

However, I love the iconography of the DC characters over the Marvel ones.  It's just that, apart from some amazing DC graphic novels, the Marvel comic-books tend to have better stories.

[The Dark Knight]

Is it a terrible thing for me to admit here that apart from Batman I generally prefer Marvel?

Not at all. The only other DC character I like after Batman, but to a lesser extent is Superman. After that, it's all Marvel. Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and the X-Men to name a few. The other DC characters don't really interest me. Wonder Woman is perhaps is the third of their characters after Batman and Superman, but what has she done? It's been 75 years and not one live action appearance in that time. Green Lantern and Flash have potential, sure, but I never really took to them. Those Marvel guys just have better villains and backstories for my money.

And the Nolan trilogy, for all its 'arty fartiness', wouldn't cut the mustard as a MCU film. When you watch The Winter Soldier, you realise how far behind Batman is. We really should be getting stuff like the Arkham game cinematics.

[riddler]

I don't generally get involved in the DC vs Marvel comic debates. The majority of writers and artists who've had success in the industry have worked on both. 3 of my favourite 5 are from DC but 6 of my favourite 10 are marvel.


That being said on film Marvel has their act together, DC doesn't. DC is making theres overly artsy because they seem ashamed of being comic based. Marvel on the other hand embraces their roots and have no issues delivering the fans what they want.

[The Dark Knight]

Marvel on the other hand embraces their roots and have no issues delivering the fans what they want.

No argument here.

I pray BvS delivers.

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm planning to see The Winter Soldier some time this weekend. I loved Captain America: The First Avenger, so I'm eager to see if the sequel really does live up to the hype.

Anyway, I found this interview with David Goyer that has me concerned about a couple of things.

David Goyer Says Warner Brothers Would Love to Make Their DC Universe More Cohesive

Writer/producer David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel) is a busy man. Aside from his STARZ series Da vinci's Demons, he has Constantine, Sandman, and the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, currently titled Batman vs Superman, all in various stages of development. His DC plate is already full, and the producer has also expressed interest in taking part in the next Green Lantern adaptation for Warner Brothers.

IGN was able to talk with the prolific writer about his work with Warner Bros. and the evolving landscape of superhero films as each studio attempts to keep pace with Marvel and find their own method to manage their slate of characters.

IGN: You've talked about how Marvel and DC's cinematic universes sort of took an opposite trajectory from the world of the comics, where DC is now sort of the more grounded, more relatable universe.

Goyer: It is odd.

IGN: It's fascinated me, watching that happen. Do you find that it's becoming more challenging as you start to tap into characters that in the comic world were considered more boy scouts?

Goyer: Sure. You mean Superman?

IGN: Sure.

Goyer: Yes. Also, and he's alien. Yeah, I think it's a lot easier to make Batman relatable than it is to make Superman relatable. I mean, writing the script for Man of Steel was a lot more challenging for that very reason.

IGN: Is there any part of you moving forward that -- and I think I know the answer to this, but I want to ask.

Goyer: I probably can't say, but go ahead.[Laughs]

IGN: Would you ever consider any course correction of sorts on Zod and Superman being a killer?

Goyer: [Pause] Yeah... [Laughs] Sorry!

IGN: [Laughs] Fair enough. In very general terms, looking ahead, I'm wondering, in terms of working in television, DC's certainly got a huge presence in TV right now. What are the conversations about how these shows in development are going to tie into the movies? Is that something you think about?

Goyer: I mean, it's too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive. There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it's really, really early. I'm not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I'm not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It's just been vague conversations so far.

IGN: So it's not prohibitive to have Flash showing up on The CW and then perhaps in a Justice League movie - or something - as well?

Goyer: I don't think so. You know, Smallville was running while Bryan Singer's Superman came out, and no one had a heart attack over that. I don't know.

IGN: Sure. Well...some fans are likely to have a heart attack.

Goyer: Fans have a heart attacks -- yeah. There was a poll when they released some stills from Season 2 of Da Vinci with long hair about whether they preferred Tom with long hair or short hair, and 50 percent of the people said "long hair" and 50 percent of the people said "short hair." So you can't win.

IGN: I like the long hair for that storyline.

Goyer: I like it.

IGN: You said that it's not necessarily that everyone should emulate Marvel, and not everyone is. Fox is certainly taking their own route right now, and Sony's starting to take theirs, which is even more unusual in a way, with a focus on the villains. How closely do you look how these things are unfolding and think about how that could impact your approach?

Goyer: I mean, I know this is going to sound cheap, but I don't really. There's just our approach to how we want to tell a story, and hopefully we can convince Warner Bros. or whatnot of that. We don't sit in a room with cigars and say, "Look at what these guys are doing!" It doesn't work that way. I don't know.

IGN: As a fan do you look at it and observe it, or take an interest?

Goyer:  I'm a fan. I see all these movies. Some are great, some aren't great. I never thought I'd see the day when there'd be a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or an Ant-Man movie. I mean, that's nuts -- in an amazing way. I just never in my wildest dreams imagined that that would be happening.

IGN: Yeah, for me, it's truly fascinating to watch how Marvel's become more and more outlandish, more and more galactic and out there.

Goyer: You have to admire what Marvel's done. It's really hard to create a brand, I mean, where people will follow your brand. Pixar's done it, and now Marvel has done it. It's really, really hard to do, because there's not a lot of brand loyalty anymore. They've created a cohesive universe, so I really admire what they've done.

IGN: Is there a pressure for you to do the same?

Goyer: I mean, yes and no. Look, we've been pretty lucky with the films we've done so far. I think right now it's just kind of, "More of the same, please." I'm trying to branch off with Sandman.


Source: http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/04/08/david-goyer-says-warner-brothers-would-love-to-make-their-dc-universe-more-cohesive

First of all, I actually didn't find Goyer's work on Batman relatable at all, although it got a little better in Man of Steel with Clark Kent being unsure of his place in the world and whether or not society will embrace him. The film may not have really resolved that theme in the end, but at least his insecurities made sense. Batman, though, didn't do anything that made me relate to him. He did a lot of contradictory things throughout the three films, the deaths of his main villains other than the Joker became an afterthought for lots of people and then he faked his death as Bruce Wayne for no good reason at all. And if Superman is still considered a killer, then what does that make Batman? What about what he did to Ras and Talia al Ghul and Two-Face? It's fair enough if people thought that Man of Steel's ending was cut off too quickly, but I really don't think Superman killing Zod should be an issue at all.

Also - am I reading too much into the bold parts, or am I getting the impression that WB has no idea what it really wants for the potential DC franchise? They're making a Man of Steel sequel co-starring Batman and Wonder Woman, so that's an obvious start, but there still doesn't seem like they have plans other than that. And Goyer says more convincing still has to be made? It's not really encouraging thing to read. I know WB will be accused of copying Marvel if they follow their formula, but then again they're being accused of playing catch up right now, so...

[johnnygobbs]

I don't get the impression Goyer knows what he's doing, and that interview confirms my thoughts.  He admits that it was a bad idea to have Superman kill Zod, and that it's odd that DC are situating their characters in 'realistic' worlds contrary to how DC's characters have been traditionally portrayed in the comic-books, but he doesn't intend to do anything about it.

Warner Bros should fire Goyer's ass and get someone like Kevin Fiege and Joss Whedon at Marvel Studios in who does know what the hell they're doing.  It's no coincidence that 'Batman Begins', the Batman film co-written by Goyer was the least interesting of the Dark Knight films.  Goyer is a hack.  Anyone who has seen 'Blade: Trinity' could have told you that a long time ago.