As Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is heading toward its release, several reports have been claiming that the movie will be the longest in the trilogy. Reflecting on these rumors, James Gunn finally confirmed the news regarding the movie’s runtime. And following his confirmations, there was some skepticism among certain fans, who were raising their concerns over the movie’s runtime.
However, The Suicide Squad director didn’t back away from responding to their concern. The director assured that the movie will benefit from the runtime and will deliver a great conclusion for the beloved characters.
James Gunn defends the long runtime of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
After James Gunn confirmed that the upcoming threequel will be the longest in the trilogy, it was reported that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy threequel will be 149 minutes long. Following this, James Gunn went on to confirm the news and revealed that the movie will be around the mark of 149 minutes if not exactly 149 minutes.
The Suicide Squad director explained that to do justice to all the characters and wrap up their storyline and provide a deserved conclusion to the beloved characters, they had to elongate its runtime. He further clarified that even though the movie will be the longest in the trilogy, there will be no sort of filler that are redundant to the plot and every second of the movie will be essential to the story.
It’s around that long, although that’s not yet exact. And, I promise, not a second is wasted. There’s no fat. It was necessary to experience the full arc for every major Guardians character, not only for this film, but for the trilogy (or, I should say, trilogy plus). https://t.co/HwqXOtzesm
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 26, 2023
Following Gunn’s perspective on the movie’s runtime, it seems that the movie will be able to deliver a great conclusion to the beloved franchise.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can benefit from its long runtime
Although most MCU movies are mostly around the 2-hour mark and the long runtime of a movie doesn’t always ensure that the movie will be good. But following MCU’s biggest releases, including Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and the recent Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, proved that movies do benefit from a long runtime.
Even some of DC’s recent successes, including The Batman, which was around 3 hours, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which was almost 4 hours showcase that directors too often benefit from long runtimes.
Even though the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn’t as long as the aforementioned movies. The 2.5-hour mark does seem reasonable considering that after this movie, James Gunn will be exclusive to Warner Bros. Discovery after the threequel.
As James Gunn is currently busy crafting the story for the upcoming Superman: Legacy, which is going to be the first major release of the brand-new DCU. It might be a long while (if ever) before we see James Gunn at the helms of MCU after the threequel.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will hit theatres on 5 May 2023.
Source: James Gunn’s Twitter
