The Marvels' runtime really is as short as the rumors suggested, and that might be a good thing
A bite-sized cosmic trip to the movies.
Disney and Marvel Studios seem to be trying really hard in the final stretch of the marketing campaign to turn around the conversation around The Marvels after months of bad press regarding their troubled production and post-production process as well as creative struggles in relation to Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror (the big bad of the Multiverse Saga), and that's before even getting into Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the Secret Invasion series on Disney+ cratering earlier this year.
Now, we've learned about The Marvels' final runtime ahead of this Friday's opening in theaters, and it might be good news for some fans and bad for others. For more than a few weeks, we'd heard Marvel Studios' latest theatrical release could be their shortest yet, but nobody could 100% confirm it. Well, the November 10 release date looms near, so cinemas finally have the final runtime, and it appears the final cut sits at 1 hour and 45 minutes (105 minutes). That's 7 minutes shorter than The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). Those movies were panned by some critics because of rushed character development and hasty plotting, so this could spell trouble for Nia DaCosta's big MCU debut.
Is it actually a problem though? Not necessarily. While Marvel Studios has traditionally tried to keep most final cuts above the 120-minute mark, especially as the MCU and its storylines became more complex, some of its strongest non-event movies, such as the first Doctor Strange, floated around and below that mark. Moreover, many moviegoers have claimed in recent years that most movies are too long nowadays. A shorter runtime also worked well for Sony Pictures' two Venom movies released so far in spite of the negative critical reception, yet it did nothing to improve Morbius' box terrible office numbers.
The discussion around runtimes has been a hot one recently, with younger audiences and even some critics campaigning against theatrical releases that go beyond the infamous 120-minute mark, and filmmakers responding that people should get used to watching long movies if they can do TV binging sessions at home that last almost half a day. The Marvels' tight runtime isn't too dissimilar from Candyman's 91 minutes (including credits), so it's clear that director Nia DaCosta is a fan of keeping things short and concise.
Ahead of The Marvels' arrival later this week, we recommend checking out what's up with some recent teases in the promotional material and brushing up on your Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau knowledge with this handy watch guide.
