Heading into the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, fans should expect to see the most Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes coming together for one film and also be prepared to witness the longest entry in the franchise thus far. According to AMC Theatres' website, the upcoming film clocks in at 2 hours and 36 minutes.

It would only make sense that the culmination of nearly 20 films would result in a film of epic scale, pushing Captain America: Civil War from the top spot, which runs 2 hours and 27 minutes. Previous reports of Infinity War's length placed it at 2 hours and 30 minutes, but it's possible those reports were merely approximations.

The length of the film might not come as a surprise, yet last week fans received the shocking news that the film was going to be released a week early, on April 27th, instead of the scheduled date, May 4th.

The long-term planning of Marvel Studios doesn't often make these unexpected changes, with films regularly opening on dates that had been announced up to three years earlier. One theory surrounding the date change is that Disney was nervous about Deadpool 2 hitting theaters two weeks after Avengers opened, giving the Marvel Studios film some stiff competition. Rather than two weeks, Avengers now has three weekends to dominate the box office before any serious threats emerge.

Another possible factor in the release date shift is Solo: A Star Wars Story, which will land in theaters on May 25th. By separating those films ever so slightly, that means Disney will have assumed hits in both April and May instead of two in the same month.

In addition to releasing the film earlier than expected, Avengers: Infinity War will also open in all markets on the same day across the world. A recent trend in Marvel Studios releases is to open the film in overseas markets a few days before it opens domestically. The reported reasoning behind this is to combat piracy, although the statistics behind this rationale are vague at best.

By opening the film in all markets across the world, Marvel can now completely capture the attention of the planet, much in the way that the Avengers themselves are Earth's Mightiest Heroes and not "America's Mightiest Heroes."

You can see all 2 hours and 36 minutes of Avengers: Infinity War for yourself on April 27th.

Black Panther is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

Are you happy that Avengers: Infinity War is the longest MCU film or do you think they're all getting too long? Let us know in the comments!

[H/T AMC Theatres]