'Avengers: Endgame' Runtime Currently 3 Hours Long And Could Stay That Long Based On Test Audience Reactions

Avengers: Endgame could beat Infinity War's record as the longest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie yet. It's not uncommon for rough cuts of movies to exceed three hours, but with the film's April release date closing in, it seems likely that the fourth Avengers movie will be a three-hour epic. Directors the Russo brothers revealed that the Avengers Endgame runtime has hovered around the three-hour mark, and will likely stay that way. That is, if test audiences continue to respond well to it.

In an interview with Collider about the VFX used in Avengers: Infinity War, directors Anthony and Joe Russo revealed that not much has changed for the Avengers: Endgame runtime since they gave their update halfway through the editing process in November of last year. "We're still at the three-hour mark," Joe Russo said.

While the Russo brothers noted that they still have work to do in the editing bay, the directors have Disney's permission to keep the film at three hours if audiences continue to respond to the emotional beats:

"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."

With three hours looking like a real possibility, would the Russo brothers consider adding an intermission? Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, which ran at 3 hours and 7 minutes, brought back the tradition of the mid-point break, which used to be common in theatrical experiences longer than 2 hours. But test audiences were rapt in their seats for the entirety of Avengers: Endgame, Anthony Russo said. "We have screened the movie four times for audiences now. For the first three screenings, not a single person got up to go to the bathroom."

Back in November, the Russo brothers revealed that the Avengers: Endgame runtime was roughly three hours long, though they were still "halfway through the editing process." In April, they had suggested that Endgame could be even longer than Infinity War, which currently holds the record for longest MCU movie at two hours and 40 minutes. So make sure you take a bathroom break before seeing Avengers: Endgame. You're going to need it.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26, 2019.