Avengers: Endgame will go down as the first title to have a runtime of 3 hours in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While fans are excited about the lengthy runtime, some critics have questioned if it was necessary and the writers of the film have provided a valuable argument defending it.

In an interview with Vulture, writer Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely stated that the final film which wraps up MCU’s 21 film arc is right to have a 3-hour runtime to do justice to the stories told in past films.

“It’s exactly as long as it needs to be,” McFeely said. “Any shorter and it would have felt like we weren’t honoring all the threads and franchises that are feeding into this climax. Twenty-two movies in, not only has the movie earned its length, but people deserve a movie of that substance. I swear to God, it sounds like a paradox to say this, but it’s a lean three hours!”

There’s no question if Endgame requires a 3-hour runtime since it has already been revealed that the movie would conclude the story of the original six Avengers. In other words, the ending that’s in still for MCU fans in Avengers: Endgame can be compared to that of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchise or even bigger.

It is a no brainer that the studio and filmmakers would have an epic conclusion set for fans in Endgame. Moreover, they would expect it to have some form of grandeur to bid farewell to their 10-year journey and begin a new one with Phase 4.

“If we told you the entire universe got snapped out and we were gonna wrap it up in a tight 85, you’d have issues,” Markus said.

Last month, in an earlier interview with Box Office Pro, Joe Russo echoed the same sentiment when asked if the 3 hours run time was necessary.

“My brother [Anthony] and I are really committed to emotional stakes, and emotion requires story real estate,” Russo said. “When you have a sprawling plot with a lot of characters and emotional stakes, it requires time to breathe emotionally. On the scale, you’re just going to wind up at a certain run time. We’ve been really hard on the film. We don’t like excessive run times; it’s just very difficult wrapping up 10 years of storytelling.”

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.