We all know that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is poised to be a behemoth of a movie. Starting out as a simple sequel to Man of Steel, the film has grown to the point where it really represents the jumping off point for the entire DC Extended Universe. With that in mind, the story simply cannot be told in a quick 90-minute film. We’ve always figured Batman V Superman would be long, but now we know the exact length of the final product.
A new update to the AMC Theaters website confirms that the run time Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will clock in at two hours and thirty-one minutes. At two hours and thirty one minutes in length, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will run longer than any film produced by Marvel to date by almost ten minutes. However, we all know that Zack Snyder has a penchant for making his films run a bit long, as Batman V Superman will only run three minutes longer than Man of Steel, and about ten minutes shorter than the theatrical release of Watchmen.
It’s difficult to determine whether this duration will help or hurt Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. On one hand, if the film is handled properly audiences likely won’t even notice – which was the case with the first Avengers. If Zack Snyder tries to pack too many storylines, subplots, and threads for future films into the movie then BVS might start to feel like it drags on and on – which was the case with the The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Basically, if Batman V Superman uses its lengthy runtime to tell a great story, then we think the movie has a chance. If it branches out into too many different directions and starts to hint at events that will take place later in Warner Bros. DC slate – the introduction of Darkseid, the Green Lantern Corps. etc. – then we might start to worry. Some audiences have definitely started to gravitate towards shorter films. For example, the recently released smash hit superhero film Deadpool was praised by many who felt that its lean 108 minute run time actually helped the movie. At this point it's really anyone's guess as to how people will respond to such a long film.
Check out the final trailer for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice to get a sense of just how much content the creative forces behind the movie have packed into its lengthy runtime:
We will just have to wait and see what happens with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’s runtime. The length of a movie doesn’t necessarily inform us as to whether it will be enjoyable or suck, but it’s definitely a factor that can affect how much we as members of the audience enjoy the film.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will hit theaters on March 25.
