Have you seen “Avengers: Endgame” yet? If not, the very mention of the title or the act of logging on to Facebook or Twitter may imperil your peace of mind.
Don’t worry, this article doesn’t contain spoilers; people across the nation and the world have been raked over the coals for sharing premature plot revelations.
After “Endgame” opened last weekend, it grossed $350 million in domestic ticket sales and $1.2 billion worldwide, shattering American and overseas box office records. As millions of fans flocked to theaters, some became defensive of their spoiler-free experiences.
In Hong Kong, moviegoers reportedly beat a man after he broadcast “Endgame” spoilers while leaving the theater. In this country, Marvel fans plotted to stay off social media and interrupted friends who’d just returned from the theater with a brusque, “I haven’t seen it yet!” Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy posted a spoiler to Twitter after seeing the film, to which one commenter responded, “I hope the Bills release you.”
It was bad enough before the internet, when a physically present miscreant could spoil three hours of screen time with a single phrase. Now an offhand tweet can ruin 11 years of anticipation. In response to inevitable, spoiler-sharing trolls, Marvel Studios posted a PSA to its Twitter account last week. “After the Endgame, one mission remains,” reads text on the screen. Then the actors who play Thor, Captain Marvel, and Captain America explain: “Don’t spoil the Endgame.”
Even staying off the internet, though, isn’t a guarantee of safety. Teachers nationwide are worried their students might spoil the movie for them, with one going viral for posting a pointed note to his classroom door. “You know how much I love Marvel Comics,” the sign read. If any student “spoils a single frame of this movie,” he promised to make them “wish that Thanos snapped” his fingers at them.
Rather than employing humor, “Endgame” directors Anthony and Joe Russo invoked our better natures in their anti-spoiler appeal. “Please know that the two of us, along with everyone involved in Endgame, have worked tirelessly for the last three years with the sole intention of delivering a surprising and emotionally powerful conclusion to the Infinity Saga,” they wrote in a letter. “When you see Endgame in the coming weeks, please don’t spoil it for others, the same way you wouldn’t want it spoiled for you.”
If you don’t watch the film soon enough, spoilers are inevitable, especially with such huge successes as “Endgame.” But that doesn’t mean loose-lipped viewers should get a pass. People who have carefully avoided certain content shouldn’t be robbed that way. Go, enjoy your movies and TV shows. And when you’re done, keep your mouth shut.
