Whenever there’s a big announcement in the world of cinematic superheroes, attention quickly turns to how it affects the other side of the equation.

Like when Warner Bros. reveals that Zack Snyder is signed on to direct a “Justice League” movie, the question becomes “How does this affect Marvel’s plans?”

The place to start is the release date. The initial Wall Street Journal article announcing the director choice wagered that 2018 would be the earliest that a “Justice League” movie could grace the big screen.

But there are less conservative estimations out there. Both Latino Review and the Hollywood Reporter suggest Warner Bros. and Snyder are looking to quickly turn around the team-up movie for a 2017 release date, possibly even less than a year after “Batman Vs. Superman.”

That would require the next two DC Comics movies to shoot back to back, something that’s been rumored before.

So now the big question is which summer Marvel plans to land its third crossover movie. “The Avengers 3,” if it follows the timeline set by the first two, would hit in 2018, but that’s not a sure bet either.

In an interview with Variety ahead of the release of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Chris Evans guessed that he would be done with his six-movie contract by 2017. With a third solo Cap movie already set for a face-off with “Batman Vs. Superman” in 2016, placing “Avengers 3″ in the following year would make sense based on Evans’ comments.

A one-year turnaround on a superhero follow-up would be tough ...

The May start date for “Star Wars: Episode VII” is looming, and while the fans don’t know much about what director J.J. Abrams is up to, there are signs of a lot of movement going on in secret behind the scenes.

Entertainment Weekly did an impressive bit of snooping over the weekend and found some pretty convincing evidence that three of the most important players of the “Star Wars” saga — Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford — have all congregated in London, where Abrams is about to launch into production on “Episode VII.”

I wonder why…

The first piece of evidence caused some stir on Twitter because it was the most obvious sign that some familiar faces will be returning to that galaxy far, far away. English actor Peter Serafinowicz, who dubbed the voice of Darth Maul in “Episode I,” posted a picture after meeting up with Hamill in London.

Another tweet from a London-based photographer placed Ford in the city as well. The Han Solo actor, who is a known aviation enthusiast, met with the pilots of an air ambulance.

Fisher put forward her own playful hints, short of outright confirming her return as Princess Leia, which she’s already done on a few occasions.

With all of these clues about what “Episode VII” will eventually be floating around, the big, rumored May the 4th announcement can’t come soon enough.

“Star Wars: Episode VII” opens in theaters on December 18, 2015.

Kevin P. Sullivan