Marvel’s Decision to Publicly Spoil ‘Thunderbolts*’ Is Dumb

I try to avoid marketing for big movies, especially ones I know I’ll see. It’s f***ing hard. It begins with this job (which I am very grateful for, Dustin!!), which involves keeping up to date with the goings-on of the entertainment industry. Things get harder when you accept/realize that we are being marketed to constantly, often against our will, if we want to exist in this society. Ads are even more specific now, so my phone and computer know what I like and will bombard me with it constantly. They know I’m a big old nerd who loves movies and collects comic books, and since comic book and franchise movies still (mostly) dominate the silver screen, it can be hard to remain pure.

I’ll do what I can. I spent several recent movie-going experiences putting in my headphones and closing my eyes when the trailer for Sinners played. Thankfully, that worked! I was able to enjoy the film unspoiled. It truly enriched the experience, as almost everything felt like a surprise. I say almost because there’s one scene in particular that was discussed so openly and quickly after the movie’s release that it was almost impossible to ignore. It didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the scene (or movie), but I know it would have been even better had I known nothing. But therein lies the rub.

It would be almost impossible for a studio to market a film by giving no information. Some things come close. Barbarian famously marketed a movie using only its opening scenes. They then pivoted in the following weeks to teasing out only a little more of the film’s plot. However, with something like Abigail, I’d argue it would be very difficult to get people into that film without revealing the “twist.” Then you have a movie like Companion that could have concealed things more, but chose to lead with its twist in the marketing, so the first twenty minutes of the film are spent teasing something we already know. It’s a delicate balance unless you are a juggernaut who releases its most positively reviewed film in years.

That’s the case with Thunderbolts*! People are digging it, and it made $160 worldwide over its opening weekend. I’ll be honest in that, initially, I had no desire to see it. The positive reaction changed my mind. I didn’t even read the Wikipedia synopsis, which I often do with movies I’m not that interested in. Instead, I bought a ticket and even invited a friend. I’m going tonight, after I work a shift at my day job, and despite seeing some discussion out there, I was even able to avoid the discussion about the after-credits scene. I was heading into this movie with zero spoilers, until Marvel decided it was doing too well, I guess?

I will not tell you what they have done to spoil the movie. I won’t even allude to it, nor discuss its implications. That being said, there’s likely a chance you already know it, because they’ve had no shame in revealing it! The reveal has gotten a lot of coverage, with some outlets stating it in the headline. Maybe it won’t make that big of a difference, but it feels like it does and dammit, I shouldn’t learn about it from the company itself! I should be scrolling aimlessly through TikTok or BlueSky and run across someone with zero chill who feels they must be the first to share.

It’s not even that having MCU movies spoiled for me will keep me from seeing them. Finding out that John Krasinski had a cameo in The Multiverse of Magic made me want to see it more. But that movie was getting more of a “meh” reaction (I would go on to learn the “meh” chorus was wrong and the movie rips). But I also found that out because of some s***ty Reddit post, not Marvel running to Deadline. Thunderbolts* was riding a wave of positive reaction and good ticket sales, and in a move that reeks of unnecessary desperation, Marvel put out a spoiler that feels pretty huge.

Maybe I’m wrong and the spoiler won’t affect my enjoyment (or lack thereof) of the film. But, at a time when studios should be pumping up their theater-released movies, this feels like a move that’s telling everyone to just wait for Disney+, like people are doing for Brave New World. If I’m overreacting, please let me know in the comments. But be aware that I will not be reading them as I don’t want any damn spoilers.