Avengers: Endgame likely to keep three-hour runtime

Avengers: Endgame could end up with that massive three-hour runtime, after all.

Avengers: Endgame will be the culmination of over a decade’s worth of storytelling, which was bound to make it a long film. But when it was revealed that it could be three-hours long many were excited but unsure if the runtime would actually stick. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo still have work to do on the movie, but their recent comments signal that this could be the definite length.

The two recently sat down with Collider and discussed their work on the fast-approaching flick. When asked about Endgame’s current runtime, Joe Russo confirmed that it’s still around three hours. He also doesn’t believe Marvel or Disney aren’t as concerned about the  length as they are about the story. And on top of this, the film is performing well with test audiences:

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"“I think the studio is down with what the best story is. Right now, we think the movie is playing well and we’ve had great responses from our test audiences and we’re feeling very good about where it is. We’re still doing work to it. We’re not done with it. Again, this is a culmination film of 22 movies, it’s a lot of storytelling to work into it. Emotion is an intrinsic part of that to us. When you have to tell a really complicated story and you want strong emotional moments with the characters, it just requires a certain amount of real estate. This one, in particular, feels like three hours worth of real estate.”"

With a three-hour runtime, Endgame would be the longest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers franchise and Avengers-adjacent films, like Captain America: Civil War, have been the MCU’s longest features. So this, paired with the fact that it’s a culmination tale, makes Endgame’s length understandable.

And as Russo mentioned, there’s quite a bit of story that needs to be told. There are currently no concrete details regarding the plot, but reports hint at a massive story. One thing that is known is this film will mark the end of an era in the MCU and serve as a sort of send-off for Marvel veterans like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

This length may pose somewhat of a challenge for some moviegoers, but if the rumored intermission is indeed added, a viewing shouldn’t be too much of a feat. Nevertheless, the one thing that is for sure is that audiences are in for a lot of movie when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.