Captain America: Civil War Runtime Confirmed
By Nick Tylwalk
Get the large popcorn and drink when you go to see Captain America: Civil War in May, because it’s the longest Marvel movie so far.
Deadpool showed comic book movie fans that bigger isn’t always better, and unlike Wade Wilson, we don’t mean that as an innuendo of any kind. At only 108 minutes, it showed that not every superhero flick needs to be a sprawling epic. Don’t expect the same type of relative brevity from Captain America: Civil War.
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As revealed by multiple media outlets today, including MovieWeb, the Captain America: Civil War runtime has been confirmed at 146 minutes. That’s just a tad longer than the longest previous movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, which clocked in at 143 minutes.
Civil War might need the extra minutes in order to fit in a tale about Captain America trying to find and help his friend Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, along with a broader narrative about oversight of the MCU superhero community. A disagreement between Captain America and Iron Man about whether to cooperate with the world’s governments will lead to a showdown between the heroes, one that also includes all of the Avengers seen in films so far plus Black Panther and at least a cameo from Spider-Man.
That’s a lot of heroes, and there are villains in the film as well. It would be hard to justify anything less than a semi-epic runtime with so many characters that need to have some screen time. Similarly, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is taking 151 minutes to tell its story later this month, at least in part to juggle its large cast.
Movie studios might be hesitant under most circumstances to approve a final cut that nears two and a half hours because theaters can’t squeeze in as many total showings. That’s not as much of a concern for an MCU blockbuster like this one, which is going to pack plenty of people into each showing for at least the first few weeks.
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Still, 146 minutes is a long time to sit and watch superheroes punch each other no matter how you slice it. Make sure to empty your bladder before the lights dim or skip out on that extra large soda, because the Captain America: Civil War runtime is serious business — and that’s not even counting the post-credits scenes you know are coming once it’s over.