Avengers 4 run time revealed (sort of), plus more Marvel tidbits
Frustrated fans, assemble! Joe Russo knows you want the A4 trailer, and he's playing you. (And Mark Ruffalo is still fired.)
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
The Avengers are going to assemble, for a long, long movie.
Frustrated fans, assemble! Avengers 4 director Joe Russo knows how to play his audience. Russo, minus brother and co-director Anthony, hosted a live question-and-answer period on the Instagram Stories page for his Los Angeles bar Duello on Thursday.
The live Q&A was frustrating for some who came only for movie news, as Russo mostly talked about his new bar, discussing drinks with Duello Creative Director Iain McPherson. But some Avengers gossip slipped in. And the biggest news came when Russo was asked how long Avengers 4 will be.
"It's currently sitting right at three hours," Russo said. "So we'll see if that holds, but it's sitting right at three hours right now."
Both of the two major questions atop every Avengers fan's mind were asked, and Russo neatly avoided both like Iron Man dodging a missile.
When's that trailer coming? "You may or may not see it before the calendar turns to 2019," Russo teased.
What about that mysterious title? "The official title for Avengers 4 is Avengers..." Russo said, and then the video cutely cut out.
He returned, joking about technical difficulties, and this time, he appeared to reveal the title, but with the sound cut off. And if you don't think fans are already trying to read his lips à la Mark Ruffalo on Jimmy Fallon, you don't know Marvel fans.
"Could you read Russo's Mouth during the Video?" wrote one Twitter user. "The Title was censored but I think you could still read his mouth, it is slightly delayed."
Could you read Russo's Mouth during the Video? The Title was censored but I think you could still read his mouth, it is slightly delayed.
— F1 Bobby #TeamLH (@ScarfaceOne2) November 8, 2018
Russo was asked how to keep noted blabbers Ruffalo and Tom Holland from spoiling the movie plot. "Didn't we fire Mark Ruffalo?" he was asked. (Yes, they did -- but we're still assuming it's one big joke.) "Yes, we fired Mark Ruffalo. Mark's fired," he said.
The director was also asked if the stakes would be higher in Avengers 4 than in previous movies. "Absolutely 100 percent the highest of any of the films to date, without question," he said. Well, duh, since half your core cast is "dead."
He also revealed that the staff is "about halfway through the editing process" on Avengers 4, with much more work to come, and that the brothers 'would absolutely love to work with Marvel again" after this film.
Russo gave advice to a fan who wanted to get into directing. "Shoot, shoot, shoot. Get your phone out, get yourself a cheap (camera). My biggest encouragement is ... go film stuff as much as possible."
And once you've filmed stuff, be smart enough to keep the big secrets, like trailer date and title, locked up like an Infinity Stone. OK, he didn't say that last bit, but you know he wanted to.
Avengers 4 is scheduled for a May 3, 2019, release in the US and April 26 in the UK, with no Australia date yet given.
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