TNT has officially jumped on the super-hero bandwagon in a big way.
The cable TV network, which is owned by Time Warner, signed an exclusive deal to broadcast the next five Marvel films, according to a report on Cinemablend. The deal includes "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which will be released in May of 2015. The other films thought to be included in this deal are "Ant-Man," "Captain America 3," "Dr. Strange," and either "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" or "Black Panther"...whichever happens to go into production first.
However, it is rather interesting to note that it will be some time before any of the aforementioned films see the light of day on the cable network, as the TNT press release clearly states that all five films will only be shown two years after their theatrical releases. By that time, any dyed-in-the-wool Marvel fan will have seen any of those films several times over in the theater and/or own the DVD/Blu-ray.
One would venture to guess that TNT is looking to strengthen and diversify their drama-based brand by adding engaging super-hero flicks to their burgeoning line-up of action-oriented programming, such as "Falling Skies" and "The Last Ship." Or the network could be banking on the fact that these films have staying power and are, for the most part, easily accessible, which makes great channel-surfing fodder on lazy Sunday afternoons either now or five years down the line.
