As the characters and spectacle of superhero movies grow their runtimes go with them. Now it’s not uncommon to get comic book movies that makes sitting in those movie theater chairs a true test of the spirit. However, the rumored runtime of JUSTICE LEAGUE is really testing everyone’s geek patience.
Recently the movie was listed by IMDB to have a runtime of 170 minutes (no longer listed on the site, but does have WONDER WOMAN clocked at 165 min), causing much stress from fans with this GONE WITH THE WIND-like length. Zack Snyder tweeted a funny little repsonse on the matter, revealing how the site was able to get such as precise bit of news:
Ooooh, need Aquaman to put some water on that burn for you? I think Batman has some Bat-cream in his utility belt next to his shark repellent.
Kidding aside, and to get serious, basically what these guys are getting at is the movie isn’t even done being worked on yet and people are already freaking out over the rumored runtime. There's seven months to go before the release of the film, so logically you can expect plenty of editing and cuts to be made in that time, meaning an exact length isn’t even close to being solidified. So why anyone thought this would be even close to the real deal is mystifiying. They probably don't even have the credits done yet!
Granted, movies like BATMAN V. SUPERMAN and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR are pushing two and half hour runtimes so expecting a big team movie like LEAGUE to be around the same time would be reasonable. But nearly three hours is clearly drawing the line for some, and I think Snyder, even with his propensity for films with grand runtimes, probably thinks the same. But the main idea to take away from this is that, yes, we may want to know everything about all the latest movies, but sometimes logic needs to settle in for a second and we need to realize that no matter how much info we want to have that some of it is just pure bullshit. As for what the runtime is, who knows. Like the great Roger Ebert said, "No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough." Maybe the movie will be end up being hella long. There's a lot this movie needs to get done, so it being a true epic isn't exactly out of the cards. It can just change it's title to ONCE UPON A TIME IN GOTHAM.
JUSTICE LEAGUE with Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, J.K. Simmons and more arrives November 17.