Anthony Russo Gives a New ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Runtime Update, and It’s Shorter Than ‘Endgame’
Few questions have hung over Marvel’s next event movie quite like how long it will run. The ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ runtime has been a running debate among fans for months, fueled by scoops, studio filings, and vague comments from the people behind the camera. Every new number sends the internet into a familiar spiral.
That curiosity makes sense given the history. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ ran 2 hours and 29 minutes, while ‘Avengers: Endgame’ stretched to 3 hours and 1 minute, the longest film Marvel Studios has ever released. Fans naturally expect the next crossover to compete with those numbers.
The latest answer came on September 30, when several outlets shared a clip on X of the director addressing the film’s length. One reply already argued that it should run 3 hours, which shows how divided the audience is.
The remark came while speaking to Fandango, where Anthony Russo said “It’s a two and a half hour movie or so.” He went on to describe a focused, propulsive narrative with an organizing principle at its center, with everything having to orbit around it. Balancing that structure against a massive cast is, in his view, the central creative challenge for him and his brother Joe.
It is the closest thing to an official runtime the directors have offered so far. If the estimate holds, the film would come in well under ‘Endgame’ and land close to ‘Infinity War’. It would also sit near other big MCU entries like ‘Eternals’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.
The number has shifted repeatedly this year. The Russos told Collider in 2025 that they expected ‘Doomsday’ to run around 2 hours and 30 minutes, with ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ closer to 3 hours. In January, scooper Daniel Richtman claimed a cut of about 3 hours, and another report suggested it could reach 3 hours and 45 minutes.
In July, The Hollywood Reporter said the working runtime was 165 minutes, or 2 hours and 45 minutes, while noting that the final cut was not locked. At San Diego Comic-Con, Anthony told Collider it was too early to say but that the length would be substantial. As of mid-August, he had confirmed that the final edit was not yet complete.
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Taken together, the newest comment suggests the film may have tightened as editing progressed. It also fits the Russos’ own earlier ballpark, which makes the estimate feel less like a surprise and more like a confirmation.
The interview also gave fans a little more to chew on. According to GamesRadar, Joe Russo teased that audiences will be surprised and said the movie has a very surprising ending. Other reports say the directors describe the film as tonally different from previous Marvel outings, with a Doctor Doom who is far more calculating than Thanos.
Robert Downey Jr. leads the cast as Doom, alongside Pedro Pascal, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans, Letitia Wright, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Tom Hiddleston, and Florence Pugh. The bonus scenes from the upcoming ‘Endgame’ Encore re-release, the directors confirmed to Empire, won’t be part of ‘Doomsday’. The film opens in theaters on December 18.
Reaction to the runtime has been mixed. Some fans see a leaner cut as a sign of confidence, while others argue that a film juggling this many heroes deserves the extra breathing room. Either way, the debate is unlikely to cool before the final cut arrives.
Do you think around 2 hours and 30 minutes is enough for Avengers: Doomsday?
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