Marvel Studios projects are among the most secretive in Hollywood, making it increasingly difficult for actors to appear in public without spoiling anything. Avengers: Doomsday, in particular, is one of the most anticipated MCU movies, and Ian McKellen has become the latest in a line of Marvel stars to spill secrets about his superhero role. The upcoming Russo Brothers film is the beginning of the end of Marvel's Multiverse Saga, and officially introduces Fox's X-Men heroes into the MCU.
With fans clamoring to know details about the next Avengers film, no comment goes unnoticed, and McKellen hasn't been subtle about a particular plot point in recent interviews. In an interview with Jake Hamilton, McKellen, who reprises his role as the mutant, Magneto, in Avengers: Doomsday, revealed he "destroyed New Jersey the other day." McKellen caught himself, remarking, "I perhaps shouldn't have said that."
Although later, while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, McKellen doubled down on his scene in Avengers: Doomsday, confirming, "I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that Magneto destroys New Jersey."
While McKellen clearly didn't mean anything by it, Magneto destroying New Jersey is a major plot point related to Avengers: Doomsday that wasn't publicized beforehand. So little about the plot of the fifth Avengers film has been made public that even its four teaser trailers have remained cryptic; therefore, any little tidbit sends fan theories into overdrive.
Nevertheless, McKellen is not the first Marvel star to spoil something in an MCU film before it's been released, and he won't be the last (no matter how hard Marvel Studios tries to prevent it).
Marvel Actors Who Have Spoiled Their Films Ahead of Release
Mark Ruffalo
The Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo is notably loose-lipped about his Marvel projects. During press for Avengers: Infinity War, Ruffalo accidentally let slip that "everybody dies," referring to Thanos' snap at the end of the film that eliminates half of all life in the universe.
His most famous slip-up, however, came ahead of the release of Thor: Ragnarok, which saw Ruffalo team up with his Avengers co-star, Chris Hemsworth. At the film's premiere, Ruffalo accidentally livestreamed the movie's opening, with his phone broadcasting Thor: Ragnarok's audio while he sat in the cinema.
Ruffalo later said on Jimmy Kimmel that it was a complete accident, but that he feared he "was going to get fired."
Tom Holland
Spider-Man star Tom Holland is another notorious Marvel spoiler, with Marvel even providing the actor with incomplete scripts to try and prevent him from leaking things.
Holland has spoiled everything from Avengers posters to Spider-Man sequels over the years, with a famous interaction that saw the Peter Parker actor inadvertently reveal the return of his Spider-Man: No Way Home co-star, Andrew Garfield.
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina's break from superhero films since his Doctor Octopus role in Spider-Man 2 (2004) left him unprepared when journalists began questioning him about rumors of his return in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Caught off guard, the actor confirmed his time on the new Spider-Man film was going well, unaware that his role hadn't been announced yet.
Molina later told Radio Times he "got into such trouble. I was getting phone calls from Amy Pascal."
Evangeline Lilly
Ant-Man and The Wasp star Evangeline Lilly played with fire when she posted a picture of her Marvel script for Ant-Man 3 on Instagram. Although it wasn't the image itself that gained traction, it was the hashtags the actress used that seemed to reveal that Corey Stoll would return in the film as Yellowjacket.
This turned out to be true, as Stoll did return in the film, though he was playing MODOK, not the character fans expected.
Frank Grillo
Marvel star Frank Grillo (who is now a major player in James Gunn's DCU) appeared in multiple films as Crossbones. Grillo confessed to being bad at keeping spoilers, telling Comicbook.com, "Marvel almost fired me" for his loose mouth.
"You know, unfortunately, there’s nothing I can really say that wouldn’t get me in trouble. So I kind of have to step back and go, ‘I take the fifth.’ I am so bad at this. Like, Marvel almost fired me 36 f—ing times because I don’t know. I never want to lie. And so, I do that a little too much. But I’ve been warned."
Gwyneth Paltrow
Original MCU star Gwyneth Paltrow, who has been a part of the universe since Iron Man in 2008, has never been shy about her lack of Marvel awareness.
In 2018, Paltrow spoiled a major plot point about Avengers: Endgame, revealing that Tony Stark and Pepper Potts have a child together, which ultimately was true following the arrival of Morgan Stark in the fourth Avengers movie. This also subsequently spoiled the time jump between the Avengers films.
Paltrow has since chosen to use memory loss around all of her Marvel roles, which has helped buffer any spoilers she may accidentally reveal.
Sebastian Stan
Another long-time Avengers cast member, Sebastian Stan, has more practice than anybody running the Marvel press circuit, but even the Winter Soldier has let some things slip over the years.
During press for Avengers: Infinity War, Stan spoiled a scene between him, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer, that was filmed for Avengers: Endgame (both Avengers titles were filmed back-to-back). At the time, Pfeiffer was confirmed for a role in Ant-Man and The Wasp, but it hadn't yet been revealed what happened to her character, with fans believing she was still trapped in the Quantum Realm. But Stan's comments accidentally revealed Ant-Man and the Wasp's ending, confirming that Janet Van Dyne returns to Earth.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson has a finger in many MCU pies thanks to his role as the Avengers' assembler, Nick Fury. In 2018, Jackson appeared in Captain Marvel, one of the few films released between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. While Captain Marvel spoilers might've seemed safe given the origin story is set long in the past, Jackson still managed to let slip to ET that Carol Danvers is "one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel."
While this didn't amount to a huge spoiler, since it was confirmed Brie Larson would appear as Captain Marvel in Avengers: Endgame, the time-travel element had fans thinking she would be pivotal in reversing Thanos' snap. This didn't turn out to be true, nor did Jackson's comments about Captain Marvel's time-travel powers. Although it is true that Carol Danvers doesn't age like a typical human, which made her appear the same age in Avengers: Endgame as she was in Captain Marvel almost 30 years earlier.
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is another star from Fox's X-Men era returning in Avengers: Doomsday, like McKellen, and, like his co-star, he's already dropped a few plot points about his MCU return.
Cumming seemed to suggest that his character, Nightcrawler, gets into a fight with Pedro Pascal's Mr. Fantastic in the new Avengers movie. The star quickly tried to walk back these comments, although it does seem like the X-Men and Fantastic Four actors will share scenes together
JB Smoove
Spider-Man star JB Smoove, who played Midtown High School teacher Mr. Dell, accidentally let the cat out of the bag about Tobey Maguire's return in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The actor, point-blank, shared that he preferred Holland's interactions with Maguire's Spider-Man over Garfield's, seemingly unaware that the ex-Spider-Man star's return was meant to be a surprise.
Jamie Foxx
Spider-Man: No Way Home was a leaky ship by the time it arrived in theatres in 2021. Along with the rumors of Spider-Men returning and ex-Marvel actors reprising their roles, Jamie Foxx spoiled both in an Instagram post. The actor not only shared that he would be back as Electro (who wouldn't be blue this time), but also posted an image of all three cinematic Spider-Men together, essentially confirming the returns of Garfield and Maguire as well.
