The age of streaming has completely changed the game when it comes to how long episodes of a series are designed to run, when in the past it was a simple case of ensuring that it went long enough to account for the various advertising breaks and scheduling obligations of network television.
Now, shows that air exclusively on an on-demand platform are unrestricted by those limitations, so they can run for anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour if they so choose. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Disney Plus lineup tend to veer towards the shorter end of that scale, many fans have voiced their frustrations at the lengthy end credits that knock roughly five minutes off each installment.
Hawkeye‘s first two episodes ran for pretty much the same length as a standard outing for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or Loki, but a new rumor claims that the next two will only stretch to 40 or so minutes including credits, which means they’ll be closer to 35.
Given the way fans have reacted to the street-level New York City adventure so far, not to mention the massive popularity of the MCU, they’re always going to want as many minutes as possible. With that in mind, there’s bound to be disappointment should the next two Hawkeye episodes come and go in a flash.
