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TL;DR:

  • AMC has listed the runtime for Thor: Love and Thunder as under two hours.
  • If correct, that would make Thor 4 the shortest movie in Phase 4.
  • The Marvel sequel may not have as much ground to cover as previous projects.
Kevin Feige, Taika Waititi, Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, and Tessa Thompson at San Diego Comic-Con. They're promoting 'Thor: Love and Thunder,' which has a reported runtime of under two hours.
Kevin Feige, Taika Waititi, Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, and Tessa Thompson | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters this July, and it promises to be one of the most exciting additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in recent years — as well as one of the shortest. If AMC’s website is correct, the runtime for Thor: Love and Thunder is officially in. And it’s looking like it could be Phase 4’s shortest movie yet.

What is the runtime for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’?

Tickets are now on sale for Thor: Love and Thunder, and AMC Theatres has listed a runtime of one hour and 59 minutes for the upcoming film. That’s not unheard of for Marvel’s solo movies. According to IMDb, the original Thor clocks in at one hour and 55 minutes. Meanwhile, Thor: The Dark World falls around one hour and 52 minutes. The third chapter in the franchise went over two hours, but that seems to be the exception.

Of course, recent years have seen Marvel movies getting longer and longer. The scope of releases like Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home necessitates a longer runtime. And even compared to Phase 4 projects like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals, Thor 4 comes up short.

In fact, it’s poised to become the shortest Phase 4 movie to date.

‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ might be Marvel’s shortest Phase 4 film yet

Thor: Love and Thunder will be the sixth movie in Marvel’s Phase 4, and its runtime makes it the shortest of the bunch. Given the ensemble nature of Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange 2, one would expect them to be a little longer. However, even the runtimes for Shang-Chi and Black Widow surpass two hours.

With that in mind, it’s something of a surprise that a title as anticipated as Thor 4 would fall under the two-hour mark. It leaves fans to question whether this is simply an outlier — or if we can expect slightly shorter films going forward.

To be fair, the upcoming sequel may not have a ton of ground to cover in terms of plot and characters. While many of Marvel’s other Phase 4 projects introduced completely new heroes or over-the-top storylines, Thor 4 promises to be a bit more grounded.

How much ground does the Marvel sequel need to cover in its short runtime?

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Thor: Love and Thunder may have a shorter runtime than Marvel’s other Phase 4 films, but fans shouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s possible the sequel is just a straightforward affair. Judging by the first few trailers, it will deal primarily with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finding his place after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

The film will also introduce Jane Foster’s (Natalie Portman) Mighty Thor, arguably its biggest undertaking. But even so, Jane is an already-established character in the MCU. As such, Thor 4 won’t need to spend too much time hashing out her backstory.

It’s also unclear how heavily the fourth movie will tie into other Marvel projects. All MCU stories connect in some way, but this one may not be tasked with recounting previous outings or setting up future ones. In fact, it promises to bring closure to existing storylines more than anything else.

Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how the God of Thunder’s next adventure fits into its reported runtime. Thankfully, the wait for the sequel is almost at an end.

Thor: Love and Thunder debuts on July 8, 2022.

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