Just over two weeks from its release date, Disney has confirmed that The Marvels (2023) will be setting a new record for Marvel Studios. However, whether it’s a good or bad record remains to be seen.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik, The Marvels is the highly-anticipated sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), one of ten movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to gross over $1 billion. It stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Park Seo-Joon as an ally to Captain Marvel.
While it’s exciting to see Carol Danvers’ story continue, it’s even more exciting to see her team up with Monica Rambeau from WandaVision (2021) and Kamala Khan from Ms. Marvel (2022), two of the best shows to come out of the MCU. However, the film has set a new Marvel Studios record that has some experts worried.
‘The Marvels’ Has a Record-Breaking Runtime
Credit: Marvel Studios
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While many fans are excited for The Marvels and the continued journeys of Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, another contingent is equally dismissive of the film. And their opinions on the movie’s quality were seemingly confirmed with Disney’s official announcement of its runtime.
Releasing on November 10, 2023, The Marvels will debut with a runtime of only one hour and 45 minutes. This not only makes it the eighth Marvel Studios film to be less than two hours long but also the shortest film in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Credit: Marvel Studios
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Before this, the shortest film in the MCU was tied between The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Thor: The Dark World (2013) at one hour and 52 minutes, closely followed by the original Thor (2011) and Doctor Strange (2016) at one hour and 55 minutes. All of these pale in comparison to the longest Marvel Studios film, Avengers: Endgame (2019), which is over three hours long.
Overall, every movie in the MCU averages about two hours and 12 minutes, almost 30 minutes longer than The Marvels. This is reflective of all movies debuting in theaters right now, with the average runtime per film coming in at two hours and 21 minutes.
Is This Good or Bad?
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Seeing a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe come in with such a short runtime is shocking, so shocking that many people are already assuming that this is detrimental news for The Marvels in the long run.
Marvel Studios’ most successful movies have tended towards lengthier runtimes, with its most successful movies totaling closer to three hours than two. On top of this, its shorter films, The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World, are either considered bad or entirely forgettable. However, a short length may not be the worst thing to happen to a Marvel film.
Credit: Marvel Studios
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One of the main criticisms of Marvel films lately has been the runtime. They have all felt horrendously long, with the studio trying to make each movie more epic than the last. Most recently, both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) have been the longest films in their respective trilogies, coming in at two hours and two minutes and two hours and 30 minutes, respectively.
The Marvels seems to be a hard course correction in the opposite direction, which isn’t good or bad. A film’s quality isn’t determined by the length. The only way to know if you enjoy the movie is to actually watch it yourself.
Do you think The Marvels’ short runtime is a problem? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
Just over two weeks from its release date, Disney has confirmed that ‘The Marvels’ is setting a worrisome MCU record. #CaptainMarvel #CaptainMarvel2 #MarvelStudios #MarvelCinematicUniverse #BrieLarson #MsMarvel #WandaVision Read More