The Batman will be the longest Batman film to date (Batman is the protagonist) and the second-longest superhero film ever released in theaters, falling only a few minutes short of Avengers: Endgame.

The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader, will last two hours and 55 minutes, only below Avengers: Endgame's three hours and one-minute duration. Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder and released on HBO Max, ran for four hours and two minutes.

The run time announcement coincides with the information that The Batman would be rated PG-13, as the MPAA requires a locked edit of the film before awarding a rating. According to reports, it will remain a dark thriller film that strains the boundaries of that category. The current incarnation of the Gotham crimefighter is still scheduled for release in March, with the expectation that the Omicron crisis will have subsided by time.

The Batman includes Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Paul Dano as The Riddler, a "sadistic serial killer." Penguin is played by an unrecognizable Colin Farrell, who has already been handed his own HBO Max spin-off series, indicating Warner Bros' faith in the picture.

Matt Reeves's film is unrelated to the DC Extended Universe. In 2008, he directed the found-footage science fiction film Cloverfield, and in 2010, he directed the horror remake Let Me In. He also directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), the latter of which runs for two hours and twenty minutes.

Lengthy blockbusters are the norm these days, with the latest Bond film clocking in at two hours and 43 minutes.