Avengers: Endgame took another step towards completion today, with the Russo Brothers announcing on Twitter that the movie is now locked. In layman’s terms, that means that they’ve finished editing it and the film you’ll see next month is in a watchable state. That’s not to say that it’s complete though, as work on CGI elements, compositing, 3D conversion and sound mixing will carry on right up until the moment it’s shipped to its premiere screening.
Still, after so long anticipating the release, it’s strange to think that the wait’s almost over. The MCU has been building to this finale ever since 2008’s Iron Man, which now seems like an age ago and from what we’ve seen and heard, Endgame is set to be an explosive and moving capper to over a decade of storytelling.
Speculation has been building as to exactly what the movie will contain since the credits rolled on Avengers: Infinity War, but most fans assume there’s going to be at least one big death (could it be Tony Stark, Steve Rogers… or both?). And it now seems all but guaranteed that there’s going to be some sort of time travel element in the movie, too.
Whatever the case, there’s an awful lot to resolve here, which explains why the Russos have been hinting at a gargantuan three hour long runtime. That would be a new record for the MCU, whose movies tend to land somewhere just north of the two hour mark. I’m willing to bet MCU fans will be in a forgiving mood when it comes to Avengers: Endgame, though I’m equally willing to bet that there’s going to be some very strained bladders in the last sequences. Sometimes I just wish films would bring back intermissions.
