Tickets for Thor: Love and Thunder just went on sale, and with that moment came a highly anticipated moment. Theater apps always include the running time for movies when you’re buying them (and multiplexes need to know the correct info to manage their screenings). And the good news is that Thor: Love and Thunder is short (for a Marvel movie). While our sister-site GamesRadar (opens in new tab) spotted that AMC and Cineworld listed the fourth Thor film with a running time of 119 minutes (1 hour and 59 minutes), Tom’s Guide saw that Alamo Drafthouse is setting the movie for a minute longer, at 120 minutes (2 hours). Either way, this is phenomenal news for those of us who think Marvel movies have just got too long these days. Thor: Love and Thunder is the first Marvel movie in the last three years (or, since Ant-Man and the Wasp) to come in at two hours or less.
Marvel movie run times from 2019 to 2022
While some of the MCU movies that came out in this window don’t crack the 130 minute mark (with Captain Marvel at 124 minutes and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at 126 minutes) the recent MCU films haven’t been so kind to those who appreciate a shorter film. Eternals (156 minutes) lasted an eternity and a half, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (148 minutes) was right behind it (though it didn’t move at Eternals’ glacial pace).
Analysis: A surprise we didn’t expect
Thor: Love and Thunder has, to put it lightly, a lot going on. First, you’ve got Thor (Chris Hemsworth) rolling with the Guardians of the Galaxy in a quest for self discovery. Then, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is the bored king of New Asgard. Of course, a very buff Natalie Portman is also Thor now. And that’s all before we get to the villain of the flick Gorr (Christian Bale), who is out to butcher all gods, and whatever the heck is going on with Zeus (Russell Crowe). So, to hear that Taika Waititi managed to contain all this in a mere two hours or so? It’s a delightful bit of a surprise. Sure, we’ve been anticipating this movie with high expectations, but to think that it won’t keep us in our chairs for as long as Eternals or No Way Home did? Major bonus.
