The Batman is set to be Warner Bros.' return to the big screen for the DC Extended Universe this March, marking the first of four movies this year and the first for the franchise since 2021's The Suicide Squad. With Robert Pattinson taking on the leading role and at least three villains coming into play, the Caped Crusader is in for one of his biggest solo outings in quite some time.
The marketing tour for The Batman has been a roller-coaster of a ride, with the first trailer from DC FanDome 2020 only being able to show about 25% of what was filmed, yet still bringing massive amounts of hype for its release. The team followed that up with a full look at the film during FanDome 2021, showcasing plenty of action and drama that Pattinson and the crew will bring to the big screen.
Considering how much story is coming in this year-one adventure for The Dark Knight, rumors have pointed to The Batman potentially being the longest solo Batman movie in history with regards to its runtime. Now, it's been confirmed that the DCEU's first 2022 will challenge some of the longest superhero films ever made in that respect.
How Long Is The Batman's Runtime?
Via Reddit, a Czech Film Distribution website confirmed that Matt Reeves' The Batman has a runtime of 2 hours and 56 minutes.
This makes The Batman the longest DCEU outing outside of Zack Snyder's Justice League, and it's only seven minutes shorter than Marvel Studios' longest movie, Avengers: Endgame.
For comparison, the top five Marvel Cinematic Universe runtimes are:
1.) Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 3 hours, 2 minutes
2.) Eternals (2021) - 2 hours, 36 minutes
3.) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - 2 hours, 29 minutes
4.) Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - 2 hours, 28 minutes
5.) Captain America: Civil War (2016) - 2 hours, 27 minutes
The DC Extended Universe's five longest movies before The Batman are as follows:
1.) Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021): 4 hours, 2 minutes
2.) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): 2 hours, 32 minutes
3.) Wonder Woman 1984 (2020): 2 hours, 31 minutes
4.) Man of Steel (2013): 2 hours, 23 minutes
5.) Aquaman (2018): 2 hours, 23 minutes
Looking at the history of all the solo Batman movies, below are the five films with the longest runtimes:
1.) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - 2 hours, 45 minutes
2.) The Dark Knight (2008) - 2 hours, 32 minutes
3.) Batman Begins (2005) - 2 hours, 20 minutes
4.) Batman (1989) - 2 hours, 6 minutes
5.) Batman Returns (1992) - 2 hours, 6 minutes
The Batman Bringing a Huge DCEU Story
Looking at the history of Batman movies over the past 60 years, the only one to come close to The Batman's length is 2012's The Dark Knight at 165 minutes, about ten minutes shorter than this new outing. Even considering how long MCU movies have been recently, with both Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home coming near or over two and a half hours, the fact that this new DCEU movie only trails Endgame is an impressive feat.
Endgame served as a culmination for a decade of storytelling in the MCU as Earth's Mightiest Heroes defeated Thanos and brought half of the universe's population back to life, paying tribute to 21 previous movies as well. Looking at how The Batman is a solo story focusing on Bruce Wayne's first year of fighting crime in Gotham, fans should expect to see more Caped Crusader action than ever before this time around.
How this will all be broken down is still a mystery, with heroes and villains like Zoe Kravitz's Catwoman, Paul Dano's Riddler, Colin Farrell's Penguin, and more alongside Pattinson's story as Bruce Wayne and Batman. No matter how that plays out, news about a nearly three-hour runtime will only increase the anticipation for the next DCEU outing as it inches closer to its debut.
The Batman will debut in theaters on March 4, 2022.
