It seems that Marvel and Warner Bros. will be even more actively squaring off in theaters in 2015 and 2016 as they are increasingly setting their release dates on the same day. Whether or not this is a good move for either studio remains to be seen, but they certainly have committed to it. Marvel just moved Ant-Man’s release date up two weeks to July 17th, 2015, which you may recognize as the previous release date of Batman vs. Superman before it was moved to 2016. The Batman vs. Superman movie, of course, is now being released on the same date as an untitled Marvel movie. And this new release date for Ant-Man means that it will be going up against WB’s as-yet-untitled Peter Pan film.
Speaking of the untitled Peter Pan film, we have official confirmation that Hugh Jackman will be playing the role of Blackbeard just days after getting confirmation of a young, attractive Hook being played by Garrett Hedlund. No news yet on who will play Peter Pan, but that person needs to be up for “saving the natives” which is just a completely offensive idea. Who knows, though, the movie may still take a turn for the better. Certainly Jackman is a skilled actor and seemingly awesome guy.
It’s generally been the practice, particularly of Marvel and DC movies, to release at different times so that they could enjoy the spoils of geek money uninterrupted by competition. Of course, all movies have competition whether it’s direct or not, but placing two superhero movies on the same release date is not a casual move – it’s nearly a declaration of war. While Ant-Man’s release date going up against a Peter Pan film is not quite the same, it would be interesting to know if this was Marvel’s way of saying “we see what you’re doing and we’re not scared of you”? After all, especially in recent years, Marvel is really the movie powerhouse, not DC – especially in a post-Dark Knight trilogy world. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
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