The MCU’s longest movie has become the source of an impossible challenge for Avengers: Doomsday. The upcoming Avengers movie will see a barrage of familiar faces return as they do battle against Doctor Doom, who was first teased in the post-credits of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This will include 20th Century’s X-Men timeline folding into the MCU.
The movie makes for one of the biggest changes in the MCU in a long time, and the first Avengers film in the franchise since 2019. However, amid the return of Captain America, Thor, Cyclops, and other classic characters, Avengers: Doomsday will have to tackle a major challenge that threatens its ability to succeed when it arrives on the big screen.
Avengers: Endgame’s Runtime Sets Up One Of Two Challenges For Doomsday Whatever Its Length Is
Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Avengers: Endgame
The biggest challenge for Avengers: Doomsday is balancing out its runtime. The movie will feature a number of returning characters and groups, including the X-Men, The Fantastic Four, the New Avengers, and the established Avengers. It will also need to delve into Doctor Doom’s overarching plans and how it brings multiple universes of heroes together.
So far, the longest MCU movie has been Avengers: Endgame. Sporting a runtime of 181 minutes, the film served as a final bookend to The Infinity Saga, delivering a powerful finale that allowed ample time for all the core heroes to shine. However, the film had a much smaller cast than Avengers: Doomsday, signaling the new film needs to find the right balancing act.
It’s possible Avengers: Doomsday ends up being shorter than Avengers: Endgame. In 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, many more heroes were onscreen for much longer, with the movie coming in at 149 minutes. This means it’s possible the MCU’s next big crossover can handle its massive cast in a similar fashion.
At the same time, though, the movie will include X-Men characters that haven’t been seen onscreen since the 2010s. This necessitates a level of familiarization that would be better in a longer movie. A runtime shorter than Avengers: Endgame might make it so Avengers: Doomsday can’t adequately explore everything it’s promising.
While a longer runtime would benefit the film, it could also cause complaints due to its length. Event movies like Avatar: Fire and Ash, which boasts a 197-minute runtime, drew trepidation from Disney. The film’s length meant less screenings per day, a facet Avengers: Doomsday would also have to deal with should it be over three hours in length.
Why Avengers: Doomsday Is Better Off Becoming The MCU’s Longest Movie
Between the two options, though, Avengers: Doomsday is much better off becoming the MCU’s longest movie of all time. The film has a lot to juggle, from the 20th Century X-Men, to the return of old characters, to a deeper focus on new heroes without much screen time. All of this seems nigh impossible to achieve properly without a runtime well over three hours in length.
The movie’s advertisements also signal a return to form for the MCU, potentially making a longer film more enticing. A bigger runtime shows Avengers: Doomsday is willing to take a big risk at the box office in order to bring the MCU back to its heyday. It can also, ironically, make the movie feel less bloated, which could make it better received.
As for box office performance, Avengers: Endgame earned $2.799 billion against a $400 million budget, despite its three-hour runtime. While the MCU isn’t as popular as it once was, a long movie promising plenty of familiar faces and an exciting new villain will likely get more people in seats, regardless of how many times the movie plays in theaters.
Avengers: Doomsday would benefit greatly from a longer runtime despite the risks involved. By surpassing Avengers: Endgame in length, the movie can provide plenty of time to tell its story. Even with Avengers: Secret Wars arriving in late 2027, the first of the two should use ample time to establish its story and characters, thus benefiting both films in the process.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.
Release Date
December 18, 2026
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