The Batman director defends DC movie's near three-hour runtime

The Batman director Matt Reeves has come out in defense of the DC movie's runtime, which clocks in at just four minutes short of three hours.

Since it was announced that the film, which sees Robert Pattinson bring Bruce Wayne to life, would be a whopping 176 minutes, there has been much speculation online as to whether the superhero outing warranted being that long. At that stage, though, hardly anyone had actually watched the film, so few of us could really argue either way.

Now, with the UK and US release just days away (March 4), Reeves has assured fans that "once you see the movie, [its length] ceases to be an issue."

"It's immersive, it takes you along and it keeps you engrossed," he told The New York Times, before revealing that The Batman was even longer before they screened it for test audiences and realized they had to edit it down.

It's worth noting that Reeves seemingly said this in response to the film's early reviews – many of which celebrated how it told a comic book story in the style of a 1970s-esque thriller, while also touching on its "bloated" runtime. And that, well, critics do tend to watch things before they review them... 

Even with the niggle, The Batman has still managed to rate 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Read our review roundup here.

Also starring  Jeffrey Wright (James Gordon), Andy Serkis (Alfred) and Zoë Kravitz (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), it sees Pattinson's Bruce face off against the likes of Colin Farrell (as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin) and Paul Dano (Edward Nashton/Riddler) as he rises up as Gotham's vengeful vigilante. 

While you wait for The Batman to arrive on the big screen, check out our list of best superhero movies here.