Justice League’s rumored runtime is dividing DC fans

Reports started circulating yesterday that Justice League will run for 170 minutes, just shy of three hours, and it’s tearing the DC community apart.

The rumors started with a couple of tweets from reporters at Cinema Con and in Warner Bros. press conference. A few hours later, a run time appeared on IMDb, which corroborated those rumors and suggested that Justice League will be close to three hours. Although it’s not an official confirmation, it was another trusted source running with a similar report. If true, that would officially make it longer than The Dark Knight, Avatar, The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Fate of the Furious also has a reported runtime of 160 minutes, but that’s still shorter than Justice League.

The reaction from the community has been divided. While some fans are embracing the extra time they’ll get to share with DC’s superheroes, others are lamenting the additional scenes. Many people have pointed out that extra time could just point to the movie needed additional editing, while others have jokingly asked if the film will come with an intermission for those who need to stretch their legs.

Justice League running at 170 minutes may sound long, but it’s only six minutes longer than another Batman movie. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises clocked in at 164 minutes, but that seems to be of little concern in the ongoing conversation, even when it’s brought up. As people point to Justice League’s length, the actual conversation is whether or not director Zack Snyder can direct and help edit a coherent movie that needs to be 170 minutes.

For some people, the idea of having more time on screen with the heroes, including new members of the DC Extended Universe, the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg, is nothing but a good thing. A longer version of Justice League may not actually be a bad thing. When Warner Bros. released an extended version of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the additional scenes were well-reviewed by critics, who hailed Snyder’s directing and newly edited version to make a more coherent movie. Giving Snyder more time to get his vision across with Justice League could, in the same way, deliver similar results for the movie.

A few hours after the movie’s runtime was reported, The Wrap issued its own story suggesting that it wasn’t in fact 170 minutes. According to the site’s sources, the film was still being edited so it’s impossible to give it a runtime at this point. IMDb has yet to change the runtime on its own site, however, so whether or not the movie will actually be close to three hours is up in the air.

Justice League will be released on Nov. 25. More information about the movie is expected to be released in the coming months.