Marvel Studios is set to return to theaters in just a few weeks with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is already turning into an MCU mega-event. With dozens of rumors and confirmations for characters from all across the Multiverse, Doctor Strange 2 is building a level of hype not seen often outside of Avengers team-up outings.
This movie will be the fifth film and the 11th project overall in Phase 4 - one that will open the Multiversal floodgates after Spider-Man: No Way Home started down that path. Already nearly confirmed to feature Patrick Stewart's Professor X from Fox's X-Men films - not to mention the most powerful players already seen in the MCU - Doctor Strange 2 could end up being the franchise's biggest solo movie ever.
With that much material to cover, many are starting to feel that this film will have to be one of the MCU's longest yet in terms of runtime to give enough depth to so many plot points. According to the latest reports, fans may be getting exactly what they expect in regard to that runtime.
How Long Is Doctor Strange 2?
Brazilian ticketing website Ingresso listed a 148-minute runtime for Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
At 2 hours and 28 minutes, this would tie Doctor Strange 2 with 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home for the second-longest runtime of all five Phase 4 movies. This would also tie for the fourth-longest movie in MCU history behind 2019's Avengers: Endgame, 2021's Eternals, and 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.
The full list of MCU runtimes can be seen below in chronological release order:
- Iron Man - 2 hours, 6 minutes
- The Incredible Hulk - 1 hour, 52 minutes
- Iron Man 2 - 2 hours, 4 minutes
- Thor - 1 hour, 55 minutes
- Captain America: The First Avenger - 2 hours, 4 minutes
- The Avengers - 2 hours, 23 minutes
- Iron Man 3 - 2 hours, 10 minutes
- Thor: The Dark World - 1 hour, 52 minutes
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier - 2 hours, 16 minutes
- Guardians of the Galaxy - 2 hours, 1 minute
- Avengers: Age of Ultron - 2 hours, 21 minutes
- Ant-Man - 1 hour, 57 minutes
- Captain America: Civil War - 2 hours, 27 minutes
- Doctor Strange - 1 hour, 55 minutes
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - 2 hours, 16 minutes
- Spider-Man: Homecoming - 2 hours, 13 minutes
- Thor: Ragnarok - 2 hours, 10 minutes
- Black Panther - 2 hours, 14 minutes
- Avengers: Infinity War - 2 hours, 29 minutes
- Ant-Man & the Wasp - 1 hour, 58 minutes
- Captain Marvel - 2 hours, 3 minutes
- Avengers: Endgame - 3 hours, 1 minute
- Spider-Man: Far From Home - 2 hours, 9 minutes
- Black Widow - 2 hours, 14 minutes
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - 2 hours, 12 minutes
- Eternals - 2 hours, 36 minutes
- Spider-Man: No Way Home - 2 hours, 28 minutes
Is Doctor Strange 2 Long Enough?
Considering how many characters and storylines are set to come to the big screen for Doctor Strange's solo sequel, it's no surprise that it's currently one of the five longest MCU movies ever made.
Benedict Cumberbatch's first Doctor Strange film only clocked in at 115 minutes in 2016, more than half an hour less than the Multiversal sequel coming in just over a month. Now that the good doctor is the leading man in a movie filled with potentially dozens of other power players, the sequel’s runtime being exponentially longer was nearly inevitable.
The big question now is whether that reported runtime will go up or down ahead of its May 6 release. Most recently, Eternals’ final time on-screen came with the same number given in early reports, while Spider-Man: No Way Home's went down by more than 10 minutes; as such so fans should understand that this 2:28:00 listed time for Doctor Strange 2 is not 100% final.
Regardless of what the final runtime is, Marvel fans should fasten their seatbelts for one of the wildest rides the MCU can offer for its deep dive into the Multiverse.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will debut in theaters on May 6, 2022.
