Avengers 4 Will Likely Be Longer Than Infinity War

The directors of Avengers: Infinity War, Anthony and Joe Russo, offer an update on the editing process of Avengers 4. Plus, they reveal the runtime of the fourth installment will be even longer than the third movie in this particular Marvel Cinematic Universe sub-franchise. Leading up to the release of Infinity War, there has been a great deal of speculation about its final runtime. Neither Marvel nor Disney has released the official Avengers: Infinity War runtime yet. However, it's expected to clock in around two and a half hours.

Considering all that Avengers: Infinity War will entail, that runtime makes sense. The movie is set to be the beginning of the end to the MCU's overarching narrative thus far. As such, it unites all the members of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the other superheroes with ties to Earth. They'll join forces to defend the world against the threat of Thanos. Of course, the Avengers' story will continue in the sub-franchise's fourth installment, which will mark the end of Marvel Studios' Phase 3. And now, according to the film's co-directors, it will be even longer than Infinity War.

In an interview with Collider at the Infinity War press junket, Anthony and Joe Russo offered an update on where they're at in the post-production process on Avengers 4. As of now, they've put together an assembly cut of the movie, which is the stage before a rough cut. While the directors wouldn't confirm the exact length of the current Avengers 4 cut, Joe did say, "It's our longest rough cut." When asked directly if they think Avengers 4 will be longer than Infinity War, Joe simply said, "I do." They went on to talk about the editing process:

Anthony Joe Russos Captain America Avengers Infinity War

Anthony Russo: To their credit, we have never gotten a time mandate from [Disney].

Joe Russo: I’ll say it could easily be a three hour film, but I think that we’re very hard on the material, we like it to play at a certain pace. I’m sure that we’ll squeeze it.

Anthony Russo: We have a whole year of work left on that movie.

Joe Russo: I do think it will be longer than Avengers 3.

Of course, as pointed out by Collider's Steve Weintraub, it seems unlikely Disney would allow Marvel to release a three hour movie - even one as monumental as Avengers 4. Two and a half hours has become a standard runtime for Hollywood's longer movies in our current era and it seems more likely the Russos will stick to that length. As such, even if Avengers 4 is longer than Infinity War, it may only be by a few minutes.

Still, fans who have followed the MCU for a decade and, by the time of Avengers 4's release, 21 movies, they'll no doubt be hoping for the longest film possible. Since Avengers 4 is expected to feature major deaths and changes to the MCU's lineup of heroes, it will be the last chance fans get to see some of their favorite characters. So, moviegoers who have been following these stories for 10 years will no doubt be expecting to see the heroes receive proper sendoffs.

The exact runtime of the final cut of Avengers 4 is incredibly unclear at this point. But as the Russo brothers continue through the film's post-production process, we may get a better idea. That said, if the secrecy surrounding the Avengers: Infinity War runtime is any indication, it may not be until the week Avengers 4 is released that we know the concluding chapter's exact runtime.