James Gunn Confirms Superman’s Runtime (Photo Credit – Instagram)
Advertisement
Warner Bros. appears to be riding a winning wave recently. With Minecraft: The Movie, Final Destination: Bloodlines, and Sinners pulling in decent numbers, the studio clearly has momentum. Now, all eyes are on Superman.
This one is the first big step for James Gunn’s fresh-out-of-the-box DC Universe. So expectations are sky-high. Gunn’s not just directing; he wrote the script and calls the shots as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. So if this film hits or misses, it reflects directly on the new DC game plan. But here’s something new: we know exactly how long the movie runs.
Official Runtime For The Superman Movie
A Threads user recently asked James Gunn if WB had told him to cut Superman down. To this, Gunn responded, “Zero truth to that. And they couldn’t even if that’s something that they wanted to. It’s a DC Studios film.”
The filmmaker himself said, writing on Threads, “Yes. Inclusive of credits/post credits the runtime is 2 hours 9 minutes.” That’s not short, not long, it is just enough for a tight story with room to fly. Now, let’s put that runtime into context.
View on Threads
Historically, Superman debuts like to stretch their legs. Christopher Reeve’s Superman: The Movie (1978) came in at a solid 2 hours and 23 minutes. Same goes for Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel in 2013; it had the same runtime. Then there’s Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns (2006), which flew even longer at 2 hours and 34 minutes. James Gunn’s Superman, on the other hand, is keeping it lean.
At 2 hours and 9 minutes, it lands between the breezier Superman II (1980) and the original Reeve classic. It’s the briefest Man of Steel reboot feature since 1951’s Superman and the Mole Men, which resembled more of an extended television pilot episode lasting merely 58 minutes.
Still, shorter doesn’t mean less. A tighter movie could actually be a strength. We’ve seen plenty of superhero flicks balloon into three-hour marathons with too many subplots and not enough heart. Gunn, who’s known for sharp pacing (like Guardians of the Galaxy), seems to know exactly how much time Superman needs to shine.
