If I were to argue that Marvel movies have been better than DC movies, you likely won’t find many people arguing with me (I’ll see you in the comments, Zack Snyder, who definitely reads this website). Even so, the MCU and DCEU have both struggled with balancing directorial creativity with inter-movie consistency. Lately though, Marvel seems to be bucking that trend. Perhaps the greatest hope for that is the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, and a recent interview with director Taika Waititi gives us another reason to be excited.
Compared to other MCU flicks, Thor: Ragnarok is really short. Collider caught up with Waititi at San Diego Comic-Con, where the director revealed the movie’s runtime.
“The cut right now, I reckon it’s about 100 minutes,” Waititi said. “It’s not gonna be a very, very long film. I think that stories are better when you leave them wanting more, and this film moves at a clip, it’s got stuff happening all the time. I think people are still gonna feel exhausted by the end, they’ve been on this big journey and stuff, so I don’t think we need the film to be three hours.”
It’s another good sign
It’s a little thing, I know, but it matters. Superhero movies are often longer than they need to be, and often that’s in service of setting up future superhero movies.
This is, to me, yet another sign that Waititi was given the agency to make his own movie as much as one could within the already-fleshed-out MCU. That unique flavor has been apparent in every trailer for the movie, from the writing and comedic timing to the retro typography and music. Every indication so far is that Ragnarokis going to be a tightly-crafted movie that brings some new blood to the MCU. Waititi’s previous work, like the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, has been hilarious and under-rated, so I’m thrilled to see him getting some recognition and some artistic license with these characters. And hey, if you like to divide the price of your ticket by the movie’s runtime, don’t worry; Infinity War is going to be the longest one yet.
Thor: Ragnarok hits this fall on November 3.