Avengers 4 Will Probably Be Even Longer Than Avengers: Infinity War

If you think Avengers: Infinity War is meant to be massive, you've got another thing coming. 

According to directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who took the reins for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War and return to the director's chair for its sequel, Avengers 4 will likely be even longer than Infinity War. 

Collider spoke with the Russo Brothers at a press junket for Infinity War, during which the filmmaking pair dished up a few details about the progress they're making in post-production on Avengers 4. As of the time of writing (Monday, April 23), the Russos have stitched together an assembly cut of Avengers 4 — the step just before a rough cut. Neither could confirm exactly how long the assembly version runs for, but Joe revealed that it's their "longest rough cut" ever. When asked explicitly whether they think Avengers 4 will be longer than Infinity War, Joe unambiguously said, "I do."

It was recently revealed that Avengers: Infinity War clocks in at 156 minutes, or two hours and 36 minutes, and will become the longest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far upon its release. Speaking to that, Joe Russo said he anticipates Avengers 4 to beat that runtime, coming in closer to three hours in length. 

"I'll say it could easily be a three-hour film, but I think that we're very hard on the material, we like it to play at a certain pace. I'm sure that we'll squeeze it," the director stated. "I do think it will be longer than Avengers 3."

Anthony Russo added that Disney has never given a "time mandate" to the brothers, and that they have "a whole year of work left" on Avengers 4, so anything could happen. 

It seems pretty unlikely that Disney would sign off on Marvel releasing a three-hour-long movie, even one as enormous and meaningful as Avengers 4 is predicted to be, so it's a good thing that the Russo Brothers still have a sizable chunk of time to whittle the flick down to a more digestible runtime. Even if Avengers 4 is longer than Avengers: Infinity War, it could only be by 10 minutes or so. 

Catch Avengers: Infinity War on April 27, and then see Avengers 4 (however long it may be) on May 3, 2019.