‘Avengers: Endgame’ Co-Director Joe Russo Explains The Film’s Epic Runtime

Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo recently had the chance to explain why the film will run what may be more than three hours and his answer won’t disappoint.

In a recent interview with Box Office Pro, Joe Russo talked about his experience helping to craft the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Infinity War and, especially, Avengers: Endgame. Last week, it was revealed that Avengers: Endgame may run for a whopping three hours and two minutes approximately. Among several other interesting topics, Joe Russo commented on why Avengers: Endgame will take that long. Joe Russo essentially explained that their biggest challenge was to be able to wrap up ten years of storytelling of several characters and that they wouldn’t want to rush every single conclusion, so the film had to have space to breathe emotionally:

“We’re still looking at a similar time [approximately three hours]. This one’s been very specific in its run time. It really hasn’t changed since we executed the first cut of the film. Even though we’ve shot a lot of footage between now and then, we’ve swapped things out and the water keeps rising to the same level because the story’s so dense. We have so many characters that we’re working with again that require that kind of run time. My brother and I are really committed to emotional stakes, and emotion requires story real estate. When you have a sprawling plot with a lot of characters and emotional stakes, it requires time to breathe emotionally. On the scale, you’re just going to wind up at a certain run time. We’ve been really hard on the film. We don’t like excessive run times; it’s just very difficult wrapping up 10 years of storytelling.

Avengers: Endgame might be one of the most anticipated Marvel Studios films to date after Avengers: Infinity War broke several box office records and Black Panther managed to win a number of Academy Awards some weeks ago. Even more so, fans were left with one of the most excruciating and surprising cliffhangers in film history when Thanos got away with murder in Avengers: Infinity War and enacted his Decimation event over the Universe effectively killing half of every living being in it. This leaves Avengers: Endgame the opportunity to deliver a satisfying ending to the Infinity Saga.

Do you agree with Joe Russo? Sound off in the comment section down below!

Here’s the synopsis for Avengers: Endgame:

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson, Josh Brolin and Chris Pratt.

Avengers: Endgame is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 26, 2019.

Source: Box Office Pro