Marvel Studios is infamous for its security and the lengths it will go to in order to avoid spoilers. The MCU is packed with twists, surprises, and spoilers that the studio has always been eager to protect, in order to ensure fans get the best viewing experience possible. After every new MCU entry, social media is quickly flooded with spoilery discussion, forcing fans to stay offline until viewing.
Studio President Kevin Feige has famously gone to great lengths to avoid details spreading, even keeping the MCU's own creatives out of the loop as secrets stay on a need-to-know basis. Marvel has even begun training its actors to hold onto secrets better than ever with so many new secrets to keep.
Just recently, the studio went to great lengths to hold onto the secrets of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Not only was the review embargo lifted just days before release, but Marvel even disabled replies on its social media posts to avoid spoiler discussion.
Now, an MCU producer has offered his own thoughts on the topic of Marvel spoilers.
MCU Producer Offers Thoughts on Spoilers
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios producer Brian Chapek, who has most recently produced Black Widow and Thor: Love and Thunder, revealed his expectations for post-release spoiler discussion.
Chapek called for audiences to "be present," expressing his belief that moviegoers should wait “at least three weeks, maybe a month” before discussing spoilers online.
The MCU producer went on to stress how "nothing beats seeing those big reveals in the theaters" spoiler-free:
“You want to give people a chance to see it, and nothing beats seeing those big reveals in the theaters. You want to protect that.”
Thor 4 co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson later described how "it's amazing to be online to share, talk about and experience something together.” She also urged fans to "watch the movie, digest the movie and talk about it in person with (their) friends.”
Is It Possible to Stay Spoiler-Free Anymore?
In the age of the internet where the MCU reigns supreme in pop culture, it's nearly impossible to go into the latest projects completely spoiler-free. After all, as soon as something new has hit Disney+ or theaters, fans are instantly eager to offer opinions, debate story points, and share theories.
With social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok now built around feeds of endlessly scrolling content, much of which is generated at random based on interests, one will never know what they will run into online. So, the only way to avoid spoilers is to stay off the internet altogether - a tough task in the modern world.
The latest Marvel and DC projects have been plagued with more leaks than ever, leading to spoilers surfacing weeks and months prior to release. So, even if one were to avoid social media altogether in the run-up to a release, there's still no guarantee of staying spoiler-free.
Chapek's suggestion of holding back spoiler discussion for several weeks after release would no doubt be beneficial to many of those who aren't able to catch the latest releases as soon as they come out. However, it may not be a realistic one, as fans will always be eager to talk about what they've seen in the hours and days after, not several weeks later when it's become old news.
Thor: Love and Thunder is playing now in theaters.
