The official Thor: Love and Thunder runtime is revealed, and it's the shortest Marvel movie in four years. In just a few weeks, the God of Thunder will return in his latest solo outing, which sees him face off against Christian Bale's villain, Gorr the God Butcher. The other notable development of Thor: Love and Thunder is it sees the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, where she'll take up the mantle of the Mighty Thor and wield Mjölnir. Directed by Taika Waititi, the Thor: Love and Thunder trailers have teased a wild and humorous adventure in the MCU, making this sequel one of the summer's most anticipated titles.
Whenever a major studio tentpole is about to enter theaters, its runtime becomes a topic of conversation. Marvel made headlines recently when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness clocked in at just over two hours, shorter than what many expected given its ambitious narrative. In late May, it appeared Thor: Love and Thunder would follow suit, when it was reported its runtime was a svelte 115 minutes. Now the official runtime is revealed, and it isn't much longer.
With Thor: Love and Thunder tickets now on sale, the movie's runtime is widely available on theater and ticket websites. On AMC, Thor: Love and Thunder is said to be 119 minutes. This makes it the shortest MCU installment since 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, which was 118 minutes.
At first glance, 119 minutes (which likely includes the film's credits) seems short for what Thor: Love and Thunder has on its plate. Not only is Thor dealing with a mid-life crisis and coming to terms with Jane's superhero persona, the movie also sees the return of the Guardians of the Galaxy following the events of Avengers: Endgame. Based on the promotional materials, there appears to be a lot of ground to cover, and with a shorter runtime there's a concern some elements could be shortchanged. However, the early signs are that Thor: Love and Thunder lives up to its potential. In particular, Bale's Gorr tested extremely positive, implying the Oscar-winning actor delivers a captivating performance. It will be interesting to see how the full film comes together and balances out all of its threads.
It's arguably refreshing Thor: Love and Thunder clocks in at just under two hours. There are plenty of studio tentpoles that are 2.5 hours or longer, and sometimes they're criticized for having too much padding or drawing things out. Thor: Love and Thunder's more economic runtime should allow it to hit the ground running and keep momentum throughout the entire film, which will be fun to see. There will likely be viewers who wish Thor: Love and Thunder was longer, but "more" doesn't always mean "better." Given the amount of talent involved on both sides of the camera, Marvel's latest should be able to make the most of every minute.
Source: AMC
