Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director James Gunn offered his thoughts on the movie’s extended running time.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will deliver fans the team’s final MCU adventure on a very emotional note with this version of the intergalactic band of misfits.
Given that Vol. 3 is longer than both its Phase 2 and Phase 3 predecessors, James Gunn’s final MCU movie is anticipated to have a longer running time.
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James Gunn Explicates the Lengthy Running Time of Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director James Gunn shared new information about the movie’s running time through Twitter, adding to previous rumors that it will be 2 hours, 29 minutes long.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has a substantial running time, but Gunn guaranteed that “not a second is wasted,” even though he could only confirm that it is close to that length:
“It’s around that long, though the exact length is yet unclear. I also promise that no time will be wasted. There is no fat. It was crucial to witness the whole backstory of each significant Guardians character, not just for this film but also for the trilogy (or, I should say, trilogy plus).”
Although the 149-minute runtime is almost exactly correct, Gunn said, it is merely an estimate of how long the credits will ultimately be.
“It will be the focal point. The duration of the end credits is the only aspect of the estimated running time.”
Why the length of Guardians 3 is a good thing
James Gunn is following a remarkable trend with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in which the third movie of MCU trilogies has typically been the longest in its particular franchise.
Spider-Man: No Way Home, the first threequel in Phase 4, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the first movie in Phase 5, all followed this pattern, almost setting a precedent for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to observe.
This next movie, which will be released after the 122-minute and 137-minute lengths of the first two films, respectively, will need all the time it can get to finish the story arcs for its over six characters.
What’s even more exciting is that Guardians 3 test screenings reportedly got incredibly positive reviews, giving Gunn another successful entry for the team he’s been putting together in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the preceding ten years.
Overall, the longer running time should let this fan-favorite duo tell their story as effectively as possible, especially given the high level of expectation for Marvel Studios’ 32nd theatrical release.
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