‘Avengers: Endgame’ Directors Say The Movie May Be 3 Hours Long
Usually, movies are a lot longer in the editing bay than they are when they actually hit theaters, with Avengers: Infinity War being upwards of three hours before being cut down to two and a half. But the directors of both Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are suggesting that when the latter movie hits theaters, there’s a chance of it being about as long as the initial cut of the former film.
According to Empire Magazine (via ComicBookMovie.com), the directors of the fourth and last (for now) Avengers movie have stated that fans should be ready to stay in the theater for quite some time, as there’s a good chance that the movie could run near 3 hours in runtime. Joe Russo stated the following:
“Whether we top Infinity War or not, I don’t know, but we try to tell the best story we can with these characters. This is bringing to a close the first decade of stories. I think that alone has a dramatic power to it… The last thing we want to do is give any clues to story structure or tone. These are characters and a story moving forward where Infinity War happened. The entire universe experienced the same fate, and has been brought together by this experience… There’s a high probability that this movie will clock in at around three hours. It’s a big movie with a lot of story.”
Anthony Russo, who was also part of this conversation, jokingly(?) advised fans to bring tissues. The pair were largely quiet about plot details, noting that Thanos spends at least the opening of the film retired and inactive after destroying half of all life in the universe, and wouldn’t go into much detail beyond that. It’s worth noting that the teaser trailer itself appears to be made up of footage from the first 20-30 minutes of the film, with no action shots whatsoever and only cryptic hints about how the Avengers will proceed in the wake of their greatest failure. The film is likely to be incredibly secretive from now until the release date, although the next major preview is bound to give fans a better idea of what to expect when going into theaters.
The Russos previously stated that they expected Endgame to be longer than Infinity War in terms of run time (that film is roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes), which would put the entire “Thanos Duology” of Avengers movies at about 5 hours to 5 hours and 30 minutes. However, bear in mind that they previously stated that the title was not spoken in Infinity War ahead of the reveal, only for it to turn out to be Endgame (based on Doctor Strange’s line explaining why he gave the Time Stone to Thanos). So with the Russos not being completely trustworthy in promoting their own movies, keep your expectations in check, as there’s a chance that the movie may be as little as only one minute longer than Infinity War. There’s still about four months before this film is in theaters, giving the Russos plenty of time to decide how long the theatrical cut of the film is going to be in the editing process.
Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26, 2019.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
