When it comes to Marvel movies, sometimes longer isn’t always better, but that hasn’t seemingly deterred Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 from reportedly having one of the longest runtimes of the Marvel franchise. According to a new report from The Direct, James Gunn’s MCU swansong will come in at a whopping 2 hours and 29 minutes, which is twelve minutes longer than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and ties it as the fourth longest movie of the MCU alongside Avengers: Infinity War.

Of course we all know how much was packed into the Avengers movie, which suggests that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 has a lot of story to tell, but could it tell it in a shorter runtime or is the lengthy offering going to be wall to wall entertainment?

The main thing to remember about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is that it is seemingly the culmination of the many storylines going on within the group of superheroes, many of which will not be returning after this movie. That means there are a lot of loose ends to be tied, especially when considering the events of both Avengers: Endgame and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special are to be factored in, along with the long awaited arrival of Adam Warlock, the High Evolutionary, the history of Rocket…it takes almost half an hour just to talk about what will feature in the movie, so perhaps the runtime is more than justified.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 Will Be An Emotional Ending For the Franchise
Marvel Studios

While a new iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy will likely continue on in the MCU, James Gunn has said on multiple occasions that this is the end of the trilogy he originally intended making and that means there are going to be some tough goodbyes coming in the threequel. While Dave Bautista has made no secret that this is his last time playing Drax, for many of the other characters there is a question mark over whether they will live to fight another day or go out in a blaze of glory.

While every Marvel movie has its secrets to keep, Gunn previously said that fans shouldn’t worry too much about internet spoilers, but he did warn that there will be some things that can be found on the internet that some may not want to read about beforehand. However, he ultimately said:

“I don’t think your enjoyment of the film will be diminished much by knowing them.”

From the moment a movie is given its premiere, and when first reviews begin to roll in, it is hard to completely avoid spoilers unless you are one of the first to see the film on its general release. This is one of the reasons that Marvel Cinematic Universe movies tend to blast their way to a spectacular opening weekend box office and then immediately take a nose-dive the following week. Although the prospect of any big Marvel release making its way onto Disney+ within a couple of months has certainly seen more people willing to wait to see new movies rather than venturing to the cinema, there is no reason to suggest that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 will deliver another big box office opening for the franchise.