Kevin Feige‘s job not only requires him to ensure that the current crop of Marvel movies make it to the big screen the way the studio wants, but he also has to keep an eye on how things are developing on projects years off in the distance. And part of that means trying to stay a step ahead of the competition who are quickly moving to copy the Marvel playbook. One of the big showdowns on the calendar arrives on May 5, 2016 when Warner Bros. will drop their “Man Of Steel” sequel opposite an as-yet-unannounced Marvel movie. But if someone is going to blink and move, it won’t be Feige.
“We’re still on that date and we’re going to be announcing soon what the movie will be on that date. That’s what we’re sort of actively working on as we get ready to firm up and get into pre-production what will be the two films for ’16 and the two films for ’17,” he told IGN.
And with Jeremy Irons—who is slated to play Bruce Wayne’s Alfred in the the superhero sequel—noting to Variety that “the script isn’t entirely finished,” WB will want to be sure they have their ducks in a row because the Marvel machine will soon be figuring out what they will send to take on both caped heroes. “We’re certainly keeping the date there and we’ll announce what that movie is, I assume, in the next few months,” Feige told Slashfilm.
And indeed, Marvel has a lot options at their disposal, with talk of a Black Widow film rearing up again. “We’ve got various outlines and ideas of where to take that. As Scarlett [Johansson] already said, there’s a big element that explores her back story in an upcoming Marvel feature,” Feige told ComingSoon. “The question really is, ‘When will we take her out of the ensemble and have her do her own thing?’ As you saw in [‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘], as you’ll see in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, she’s really the key to so much of the plot development.”
But, as the Marvel universe continues to expand outward, don’t expect it to start using “The Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” show to start determining story arcs for features. Even with Lady Sif and Lorelai popping their head onto the small screen, Feige cautions fans against any expectations that it could tie into the plot of a potential “Thor 3.” “”They very much have to forge their own territory, their own ground on the TV show, and where events can coincide… it’s fun to do that,” he told Movies.com.
So, after looking ahead into the future, perhaps it’s time to focus on the present—”Captain America: The Winter Soldier” drops on April 4th. An update from HeyUGuys: their source claims Warner Bros. will back down and take “Superman Vs. Batman” off the same May 2016 date that’s currently shared with Marvel. The plot thickens I guess.