Daredevil season 2 will debut on Netflix the weekend of March 25, 2016. If that date looks familiar, it’s because that weekend is also the opening weekend for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
What a bold move by Marvel and Netflix. It’s not as if the release of Daredevil would completely overshadow or spoil the release of Batman v Superman, but let’s do the math on the options this gives fans:
Option 1: 10 Hours of compelling superhero television, no pants required, no additional cost on top of already subscribing to Netflix, and a theater experience that involves ones own couch and living room.
Option 2: A trip to a movie theater (with pants, most likely), a (minimum) $9 investment in ticket, fidgeting with 3D glasses, dealing with audiences and lines, and most importantly, no couch.
It’s as if Marvel is trying to sabotage Batman v Superman!
Who am I kidding? Of course there is plenty of time for everyone who loves superheroes to do both. And it’s not likely that Daredevil will cut into Batman v Superman‘s opening weekend, even with the highly anticipated second season additions of The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Elektra (Elodie Yung). This is not a financial competition.
It will, however, be a competition for the conversation on the Internet. And it’s likely that Daredevil, barring it laying a complete egg in season 2, will win this particular battle. Which property will generate the most think pieces? Which will have the highest penetration on Twitter and Facebook? The social nature of streaming television and the growing popularity of Netflix’s Marvel shows indicates that we’ll likely be talking more about Daredevil on what will easily be the geekiest weekend of the year.
As Devin Faraci explains over at Birth.Movies.Death, it’s about breathing room and the way we look at our current age of television:
This is where Netflix will win, hands down. Unless Daredevil season 2 is a total dog (and since people loved the middling first season we have a really low bar here), it will be seen as more narratively successful than BvS. Part of it is because we live in the ‘Golden Age of TV,’ where TV critics need to reflexively talk about how much better TV shows are than films. Part of it is that we currently believe dark, longform serialized storytelling is superior to all other forms of storytelling. Part of it is that Daredevil will have more room to breathe while BvS has to cram a lot of stuff into two and a half hours. Because Daredevil won’t have massive CGI battles it will feel like the more ‘serious’ of the two properties, even though it’s about a blind guy fighting ninjas.
This isn’t the first time that Marvel and DC properties have sparred over release dates. Originally, both Captain America: Civil War and Batman v Superman were scheduled to release on May 6, but DC blinked first and moved to the later date.
But this one isn’t about money, it’s about conversation. As someone who not only writes, but assigns articles within these conversations, I can tell you that we’ll more likely be writing deeper pieces about Daredevil that week. As will many major outlets. Culturally, this is a blow that Netflix will strike against Warner Bros. and it’s new fangled Justice League universe. In the end, it’s perhaps the savviest move they can make. Because if you dominate the conversation, you give your own property a chance to have a more lasting impact. And for both of these releases, it’s not just about a one-time success. They are both trying to build larger, more complex IP ecosystems for the future.
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