In a pleasant surprise, the Russo Brothers just tweeted that Avengers: Endgame as a film / picture is locked. That is, all editing changes to the movie have been approved and locked down, meaning a final cut of the movie now exists. While it’s possible it may undergo further changes to accommodate some last minute ideas, this is pretty much the final cut as far as Avengers: Endgame releasing in theaters go.

A picture lock is significant because it sort of finalizes the movie’s run time. What remain now are remaining steps in the post-production process such as color grading, visual effects shots and so on. Also, a lot of these would have already been done for a plethora of sequences but now that the edit is locked, everyone is sort of working towards the same end goal. And like I said, changes are still possible, albeit rare; The Avengers shot its shawarma scene after its premiere was done, less than a month after its release.

For all practical purposes though, the Russo Brothers have finalized their cut for Endgame. This only means we should get some info on the running time soon. And considering that it was only recently that test screenings had suggested a 3 hour run time, I’m counting on Avengers: Endgame final run time being at 3 hours long.

Avengers: Endgame will be out in theaters on April 26, 2018. Let us know what you want the movie’s run time to be in the comments below.