‘Avengers: Endgame’ Director Explains Why 3-Hour Runtime Is Necessary

The runtime for Avengers: Endgame has been a hot topic of discussion among fans. Some are excited for the longest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, others wonder if an intermission will relieve their bladders, and others are mad just because people like to be mad about things nowadays.

But Avengers: Endgame will serve as the culmination of the Infinity Saga, the first epic storyline that ran throughout every film since the MCU began with Iron Man, over 20 films and 10 years ago. Co-director Joe Russo addressed the length of the film during a recent interview with Box Office Pro.

“We’re still looking at a similar time [approximately three hours]. This one’s been very specific in its run time. It really hasn’t changed since we executed the first cut of the film,” Russo revealed. “Even though we’ve shot a lot of footage between now and then, we’ve swapped things out and the water keeps rising to the same level because the story’s so dense. We have so many characters that we’re working with again that require that kind of run time.“

Russo added, “My brother [Anthony Russo] and I are really committed to emotional stakes, and emotion requires story real estate. When you have a sprawling plot with a lot of characters and emotional stakes, it requires time to breathe emotionally. On the scale, you’re just going to wind up at a certain run time. We’ve been really hard on the film. We don’t like excessive run times; it’s just very difficult wrapping up 10 years of storytelling.”

The directors have earned this long runtime, especially after the reaction to Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel Studios President and producer Kevin Feige spoke with Empire Magazine about the fans’ response to so many heroes dying, saying it went down just as they expected.

“That ending, which we had been working on for many years, and I do remember people, on all of the movies we’ve made and I’m sure on many of the movies we’ll make in the future, whenever the good guy wins, which is often — good guy, good woman, good hero wins — they go, ‘Eh, it’s kind of predictable. Good guy wins.” Feige explained. “Well, sometimes that’s fun. But for years I remember thinking, ‘I wonder what they’re going to do when they don’t?’ Because we knew that was coming. And it couldn’t have been better. The reaction was the best. The reaction. Was. The. Best.”

We’ll see how the heroes bounce back when Avengers: Endgame premieres in theaters on April 26th.

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