Also coming out next year, near the same time, is Batman v Superman, pitting the two heroes against each other, with some Wonder Woman and Aquaman in there as well.
What's ironic is that while within the films, the heroes fight what should be their friends, but outside the films, they're just continuing the comic book civil war of Marvel versus DC. Captain America versus Superman, Iron Man versus Batman.
This might be make or break for DC films, at least for now. For years, they dominated the superhero genre, with Christopher Reeves' Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman. The Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy also redefined superhero movies, but those films have already wrapped up. Batman v Superman is merely the second in the DC shared universe, after Man of Steel, going up against Marvel's twelve. That puts DC at a disadvantage, especially since we are only familiar with one of the upcoming crop of superheroes, Superman. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman are all going to be mysteries to us, and already many are complaining against Ben Affleck, or Batfleck.
But Marvel has its own problems. It ventured into films with their first movie to really hit the mainstream, X-men, followed by Spiderman. Unfortunately, these films got split between different companies and have never had the chance to coalesce into the then nonexistent MCU that was created around 2008 with Iron Man. So right now, Disney owns the MCU (Iron Man, Cap, Hulk, Thor, etc); Sony owns Spiderman (although they now have decided to share), with previous plans to spin it off into oblivion (I don't know how many of those plans will go into effect now); and Fox owns X-men and Fantastic Four. This is why Magneto's children in the Avengers couldn't summon him to take care of evil metal men. DC has the advantage of all being under one roof, Warner Bros.
What really is going to decide the victor, though, is audience taste. Marvel has created a reputation of fun popcorn movies with plenty of action and quips. From Tony Stark's snakiness to now Ant-man's self defacing sarcasm, even though the world is in danger, it never gets too serious. DC, however, apparently taking cues from Christopher Nolan, made Superman a very serious and weighty character, and looks to do the same with the upcoming films. Man of Steel didn't feature nearly as much humor as the Marvel films, and while it didn't match The Dark Knight trilogy for social commentary or deep themes, it did take itself quite seriously. None of the previews for Batman v Superman suggest a different tone.
So who will win out? What will audiences flock to? The seriousness of Batman v Superman, or the more playful nature of Captain America: Civil War? Obviously there will be a lot of overlap, and geeks are already proclaiming 2016 the best year for comic book movies ever (which will also include X-men Apocalypse).
But what will happen if there are no winners? If the momentum comic book movies have been riding falters after superhero overload? With both studios so confident in their success that they've planned out several films a year up through 2020, they don't think that will happen. But audiences change and get tired of seeing the same old thing. Disney bet a lot of money in reviving the western with its Lone Ranger, but that flopped. And even if audiences still hungrily eat up all the films coming their way, what will happen after 2020? It seems the studios themselves have realized that this can't keep going forever, and are going to milk what they can while they still can, even if they dry up the cow in the process.
So who do you think will take the crown in 2016 and beyond? Are people ready for more thought provoking DC superhero films, or do they want to stick to the tried and true Marvel formula?
