It’s no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a powerful force in the entertainment industry, as the shared universe has been producing blockbusters for over a decade now. There are a number of highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies heading to theaters, the next of which is Nia DaCosta’s crossover flick The Marvels. While it won’t be released until November, it was recently revealed that it’s got the shortest runtime of the entire MCU. And that’s got me even more excited for the Captain Marvel sequel, especially as someone who has seen every movie in the shared universe.
Nia DaCosta’s MCU debut has a lot going for it, as it’ll follow up on the events of Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, WandaVision, and Secret Invasion. This has resulted in The Marvels’ cast being a strong ensemble, but there’s also presumably a bunch of narrative ground to cover. Despite this, theaters like AMC have revealed that the blockbuster is clocking in at just 1 hour and 45 minutes, making it the quickest blockbuster in the shared universe. And after sitting through every other movie in theaters, this is a welcomed change.
Over the past few years, there have been a number of very long Marvel movies released, to varying degrees of critical success. While Spider-Man: No Way Home’s 148-minute runtime moved well thanks to its multiversal story, Eternals was met with criticism over its 156-minute length. It seems like MCU movies are just getting longer and longer, which is why The Marvels is offering a glimmer of hope thanks to its reported runtime. And I’m ready to have a short, breezy experience watching Brie Larson and the cast in their cosmic adventure.
Superhero movies tell emotional stories, but fans like me ultimately go to theaters to have fun and see comic book panels come to life in live-action. But when they’re bogged down with a slow pace and long runtime, it becomes way less enjoyable. I’ll keep seeing every Marvel movie, but the fact that it is so short I’m assuming will make it a fun, light experience.
Rumors about The Marvels’ short runtime have been circulating for months now, and I’m hyped that they seemingly ended up being accurate. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta has been teasing how quirky and comedy-forward the blockbuster is. Combine that with a short runtime and it seems like it’s going to be a fun time at theaters next month.
The Marvels will hit theaters on November 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.