With the recent statements from director Joe Russo that Avengers: Infinity War will have over a 150 min runtime, it only seemed that Marvel movies were getting longer and longer. Is Marvel attempting to fit too much into Avengers: Infinity War? Avengers 3 and 4 will be big films, with a lot to squeeze in. But in a rather interesting twist, director Take Waititi confirms that Thor: Ragnarok will be the shortest film in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The news about the Avengers: Infinity War runtime isn’t surprising. They have a lot to tell and include/wrap-up in the film. Ragnarok is a big story for Thor and company, and finding out that it will be a short film baffles me. In a recent statement to Collider, Waititi says that his current cut of the film clocks in at around 100 minutes. Also, he doesn’t have a problem with that one bit:
“It’s not gonna be a very, very long film. I think that stories are better when you leave them wanting more, and this film moves at a clip, it’s got stuff happening all the time. I think people are still gonna feel exhausted by the end, they’ve been on this big journey and stuff, so I don’t think we need the film to be three hours.”
According to Waititi, there is a ton of footage that will be left on the cutting room floor. Fans will eventually get to see every bit of it on the disc release:
“There will be a lot of deleted scenes. Great scenes. Funny, funny moments that – you can’t have it all. As I say you gotta kill those puppies, so we had to take some of those things out. Those scenes will exist so people will be able to see them.”
The Incredible Hulk is currently the shortest film in the MCU at 112 minutes. The bigger question is whether that’s enough time to tell the epic Ragnarok story. According to Waititi it is plenty of time, and that he wants his film to flow well. Is the flow of the film worth leaving great scenes on the cutting room floor? This remains to be seen. Hulk and Thor have long had a big brother little brother relationship, and it most-likely led to great moments.
