The Batman’s Lengthy Runtime Is for Me and Me Alone

Buckle in because Batman’s next live-action film The Batman is nearly 3 hours long, and while some people may be asking themselves why, I am thanking the gods for this gift. For me, there’s no movie I’m looking forward to in the coming months like I am The Batman. Maybe that’s because it comes out before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but still, I do love my Bat.

The Matt Reeves picture is set in the fictional world of Gotham, the city of criminals and sin that gave birth to the Dark Knight and his vigilante acts to try to save the town his father and mother helped to build. But it is the introduction of not only a new Bruce Wayne but an entirely new Gotham. This is our first look into the world that Reeves is building and has a lot on its shoulders.

And given that most first outings for Batman tend to be over the two-hour mark, this movie, in all its glory, clocking in at 2 hours and 47 minutes, not counting credits, doesn’t feel too out of left field. (Batman Begins came in at 2 hours and 20 minutes, while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a theatrical runtime of 2 hours and 31 minutes.)

Outside of the remarks about movies being too long or fans being mad because other Batman movies were shorter, I think this is cool news and shows me that Warner Bros. clearly trusts Reeves and The Batman to have that big of a runtime to do this story justice.

3 hours of riddles

I wrote about my excitement for the Riddler, given his Zodiac influence, but I also think that this longer runtime will help with the detective side of things. For one, most of the detective movies we’ve come to love throughout the years are over the two-hour mark, and movies like Chinatown, which Reeves was inspired by, is 2 hours and 7 minutes long. While not the nearly 3-hour movie that The Batman is, Chinatown didn’t have multiple villains to unpack.

If anything, I’d be concerned if the movie was on the shorter side given just how many villains Batman is taking on. The Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, and rumored appearances from more of his Rogues’ Gallery, I expected this. And sure, fans are mad right now that it is the longest Batman movie, but Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was mocked for the director’s cut being that long. But still, The Batman has a lot of leg work to do, so the longer runtime just makes sense to me and excites me.

The Batman runtime is almost three hours, and I’ll prepare accordingly. pic.twitter.com/7rZA0cLsCB

— Mark Ellis (@markellislive) January 20, 2022

My take on THE BATMAN runtime is it should be 600 minutes.

— Sean Fennessey (@SeanFennessey) January 20, 2022

Bruce Wayne in The Batman for almost 3 hours pic.twitter.com/TCvTpLPlxH

— Santi (@santigotham2) January 21, 2022

I will go and I will love every single moment of the 175-minute (with credits) movie, and I will do so PROUDLY.

(image: Warner Bros.)

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