'Avengers: Infinity War' plot, latest news: Film will have runtime shorter than 156 minutes

"Avengers: Infinity War" is already considered as the biggest feature film coming out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), featuring the massive crossover event of classic comic book superheroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Thor. One would expect that the movie will get an extended runtime due to the sheer volume of contents jump-packed in "Infinity War." However, a recent movie listing suggests that the upcoming "Avengers" entry will be a little shorter than previously thought.

A promotional poster for upcoming movie "Avengers: Infinity War"Facebook.com/Avengers

There were rumors that "Avengers: Infinity War" would get as much as three hours worth of runtime when it finally arrives in theaters. Although, it was revealed by Fandango earlier this year that the movie would clock in at 2 hours and 36 minutes, a little short of the 3-hour expected runtime. With only a few days left before its premiere, an Irish cinema movie listing shows a different figure, with "Avengers: Infinity War" running for only 149 minutes and 9 seconds, Comic Book Movie reported.

Nevertheless, if ever the 149-minute runtime for "Avengers: Infinity War" turns out to be correct, the movie would still be the longest film from Marvel Studios. The current record-holder for the title is 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" with 147-minute runtime. The said movie also featured an ensemble of superheroes, but the number of characters appearing in "Infinity War" would be far more staggering.

"Avengers: Infinity War" will bring together all the previous 18 films in the MCU so far, and it is just good sense to extend the runtime of the movie as much as possible. This is to give enough focus on each Marvel superhero and villain appearing on the big screen. Although, according to an interview with "Infinity War" director Joe Russo, out of at least 40 characters, the stand-outs would probably be Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the central villain of the movie himself, Thanos (Josh Brolin). 

Per Mashable, Russo explained that Thor would be playing a very important role in "Avengers: Infinity War." As for Thanos, the fans might already be expecting the Mad Titan to get a huge share of screen time in the movie, given that the supervillain has only been mentioned through short post-credit scenes in previous MCU films.

"Avengers: Infinity War" will hit the theaters worldwide on April 27.