'Avengers: Endgame' Is Going To Be So Long That It Might Actually Include An Intermission

Marvel fans knew that Avengers: Endgame was going to have to be long, and it definitely sounds like it will easily be the lengthiest movie that Marvel has put out... and possibly even find a place among the longest commercial movies ever released. As the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's past decade of films, Avengers: Endgame certainly has a lot of ground to cover, so naturally, you may be wondering how long Avengers: Endgame will actually be. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo just revealed that the upcoming movie will likely clock in at about three hours, so get ready to settle in at the theater.

The Russo brothers recently spoke to Collider about the potential length of Avengers: Endgame, and revealed that it will most likely screen at about three hours. Joe Russo confirmed the running time and emphasized how necessary it was to make the movie that long:

We’re still at the three-hour mark ... 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.

Currently, the longest film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe is last year's Avengers: Infinity War, clocking in at two hours and 40 minutes. Infinity War is the prequel to Endgame and was also directed by the Russo brothers.

The lengthy Endgame runtime also brought up the question of an intermission. Collider pointed out that Quentin Tarantino's 2015 film The Hateful Eight included an intermission in the middle of its three hour and 7 minute run, so there is some precedence there, and the rumor around the internet is that Endgame will include a midpoint break. But the Russo brothers' response seems to suggest that the intermission rumors don't hold water. Anthony Russo said that Endgame has filmed for four test audiences already, and that for three of those screenings nobody got up to use the bathroom for the full three hours. The story seems to be suggesting that an intermission will not be necessary.

Although the specifics about this three-hour runtime is news, Marvel fans were already expecting Avengers: Endgame to be the longest movie to come from the superhero studio. After all, this is the biggest movie in the MCU so far, and it is predicted to majorly shift the franchise's universe for the first time by killing off main heroes. So make sure that you go to the bathroom before you get to the movie theater and buy enough popcorn before you sit down, because Avengers: Endgame is not going to be short. The new movie lands in theaters on April 26.