Avengers: Doomsday has received a projected runtime ahead of its December 18 release. The upcoming Marvel Studios film will mark the beginning of the end of the Multiverse Saga, leading into the final Phase 6 movie, Avengers: Secret Wars. As has been the case with past Avengers movies, expectations are high for Avengers: Doomsday, and the film has a lot of work to do in order to pull together the disparate strands of the MCU's recent saga, which may justify the latest rumors about its runtime.
While Avengers: Doomsday still has several months ahead in the edit bay, the first whispers of its runtime have emerged. Entertainment scooper Daniel Richtman shared in an X post that he'd heard "it’s possible [Avengers: Doomsday] will have a runtime of three hours." This would put the fifth Avengers film almost on par with Avengers: Endgame, if not longer.
2019's Avengers movie, which is also the MCU's longest film, ran 3 hours and 2 minutes. For comparison, Avengers: Infinity War's runtime was 2 hours and 29 minutes, Avengers: Age of Ultron's was 2 hours and 21 minutes, and The Avengers was 2 hours and 23 minutes. The MCU's Avengers movies typically have the longest runtimes, although Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the franchise's second-longest film at 2 hours and 41 minutes, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 clocked in at 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Avengers: Doomsday's projected 3-hour runtime means it could break a record and become the MCU's longest movie ever, if it can nudge the clock past 3 hours and 2 minutes. It should be noted, however, that the film still has many months of editing ahead, so this rumored 3-hour runtime could still change before December 2026.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo previously speculated to Collider in 2025 that Avengers: Doomsday would run 2 and a half hours, while its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, would run for 3 hours - in a similar pattern to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. However, if Avengers: Doomsday is coming in at 3 hours as this latest rumor suggests, that means Avengers: Secret Wars could run even longer, based on the Russos' earlier projections.
Avengers: Doomsday heralds the return of the Russo Brothers in the director's chairs, and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. as the saga's new villain, Doctor Doom. The Marvel movie's recent run of trailer releases confirmed the return of several MCU characters in the film (including Chris Evans' Steve Rogers), and set the anticipation bar high ahead of the movie's release on December 18, 2026.
Is Avengers: Doomsday's Long Runtime A Good Thing?
One positive sign about this projected runtime for Avengers: Doomsday is that the MCU's longer films tend to be rated better.
The current champion, Avengers: Endgame, is one of the highest-rated entries in the MCU and also the franchise's highest-earning film at the box office. Similarly, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Avengers: Infinity War, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are all longer films that were successes for Marvel Studios.
A 3-hour runtime is also a good sign for the amount of plot that Avengers: Doomsday is going to pack in. A common complaint about the Multiverse Saga is that there hasn't been a clear throughline leading up to the Avengers films, as was the case in the Infinity Saga, with Thanos and the Infinity Stones. Therefore Avengers: Doomsday will be responsible for pulling the last three phases of films together, and setting up for the conclusion of the saga in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Adding to that is the fact that Doctor Doom (the saga's main villain) will be introduced for the first time in Avengers: Doomsday, not to mention that there are dozens of returning MCU characters whose storylines will need to be serviced in the new crossover film.
It's clear that Avengers: Doomsday has a lot of elements to pull together in one film, and a longer runtime, whether it be 3 hours or longer, seems warranted given all the aspects it is juggling. A longer runtime is a good sign that Avengers: Doomsday won't have to rush some elements and will give its defining moments and characters room to breathe.
