The cycle is familiar by now. When a major tentpole film is announced, the scramble begins in certain pockets of the internet to dig up any and all information concerning the plot and characters of the film. Cameos are revealed, key story points are detailed, and by time the comic book movie or blockbuster opens, it can sometimes feel like you know what’s going to happen before it does.
In the past week alone, we’ve seen key sequences and story beats from “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” and “Captain America: Civil War” spill onto the web. And that’s not all. The past year saw lots of information from “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” leak out before it opened, and the same for “Terminator: Genisys,” and even bits about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" got out there. And there’s plenty more, too. To be fair, The Playlist is not blameless in reporting some of those things and indeed, it’s easy to get caught up in talking about the potential direction that anticipated movies and beloved characters will be headed. More and more, however, it feels we’re reaching a tipping point. No longer do these nuggets and kernels of intel seem to be bubbling up somewhat organically as they had in the past. Rather, it feels a cottage industry exists that is simply devoted to digging this stuff up and sharing it.
The common defense from those scooping this information and putting it out there, is that they love these movies — but then why ruin them? What is the benefit as a Marvel fan to know exactly how their next film will play out months and months before it opens? Where is the joy in knowing every cameo in a superhero movie before it happens? Wouldn’t those be better served as genuine surprises?
Another argument trotted out is that scooping is akin to journalism, and thus, these items are newsworthy and have merit. But this ignores the fact that actual journalists (of which movie bloggers, for the most part, are decidedly not) have checks and balances to follow before anything is published. They weigh not just the veracity of their stories, but also what is germane to a particular report or not. There is a thought process and consideration that follows, and everything is vetted, before a single word finds real or digital ink. But that kind of approach seems absent in this era of getting out there first.
Indeed, that seems to be the driving force for many of these kinds of spoilers — bragging rights. Being able to say you were first on the beat to reveal a certain detail often feels like the primary motivation, with any thought toward the reasoning of why the information should be disseminated. Rather, because it can, seems to be enough for many.
For the past year or two, there has been numerous pieces contemplating when audiences might begin to feel “superhero fatigue” given the current number of comic book movies that are headed our way over the next half decade. But I’d suggest part of that potential wearing down of enthusiasm has something to do with a culture that serves up persistently every morsel and factoid months and years before the next Marvel movie hits (for example) whether or not the demand is really there. It’s hard to drum up excitement for something if it’s continually buzzing in your ear.
I’m not advocating for a complete end to spoilers (that will never happen, even if I was), and again, nor am I saying this site hasn’t been part of the system that spins this stuff out. What am I perhaps calling for is that for those who bring these spoilers to light to perhaps pause a moment before hitting publish and consider if they are actually doing justice to the movies they supposedly love or if they are revealing these details for reasons that have nothing to do with excitement and anticipation of an upcoming blockbuster.
If these spoilers and details disappeared, would they truly be missed? Would fans truly be at a loss? Or would the culture evolve and find a new way to appreciate and discuss the genre that is so beloved? I think the answers would be truly surprising to find out.
@ELI. I think it\’s more than just him, that\’s why. There are other\’s that don\’t know the boundaries of a SPOILER TOO FAR. As complex as it all is, the checks and balances and self-policing aspect of this article is the most salient point. Playlist runs some of these, as you note, but they did not run this weeks Batman V. Superman spoiler or Cap 3 spoilers because they ARE a spoiler too far. What this article is asking for, i think, is a line to be drawn. And i think that\’s fair enough.
Why the writer of the article didn\’t just come out and say, " Stop spoiling the movies, El Mayimbe!"?
El Mayimbe also said about Asa on Meet the Movie Press still online for the record. I think he was boasting about Kevin Feige even saying that his source was that legit it didn\’t need confirming. I think Hollywood just likes to mess around with the poor guy.
Wow, it\’s amazing how ppl miss the point here of methodology. I think it\’s clear that every one accepts spoilers to a degree, even this site which it acknowledges. But the umbrage is with the spoiler that just goes to far. I mean, the first 15 minutes of Captain America 3 were just spoiled — what jumpstarts the movie and a major Batman Vs. Superman spoiler was all unveiled. This is beyond like secret casting, and unveiling directors before they care officially announced. I don\’t think there\’s absolutely anything wrong with at least QUESTIONING the harm that\’s being done here and the line that\’s being crossed. Where does it end?
It\’s deeply ironic for El Mayimbe to focus on the fact that he IS an online journalist. So maybe he is. But does any journalist worth a grain of anything delete his own material if he\’s wrong? Because that\’s what he did. NEVER FORGET: that on instagram he posted that Asa Butterfield HAD scored the Spider-Man gig 100%.
But what happened when Tom Holland eventually got the job? He deleted the instagram post. check it and google it. You\’ll find tons of sites that posted about Butterfield getting the gig off of Mayimbe\’s instagram post, but rather than have "wrong" on his record he quietly deleted it only minutes after Holland was announced.
Does that sound kosher, above board and ethical? Is that what a REAL journalist does?
The best part of this article is El Mayimbe posting on Twitter about it TOTALLY missing the entire point. Guess I\’m not shocked.
Why spoil movies? Maybe because there are a LOT of people who want to be spoiled.
Look, in today\’s world it\’s hard to be completely ignorant about a movie you want to see in the near future. For better or for worse, the magic of finding out a movie you\’d love to see only months before it hits theaters is long gone. It\’s sad, but that reality is long past us.
Why scoop? Why look for pictures? or actual scenes of the most awaited movies to come? Because that\’s the society we live in. We want things now. We want to know things in advance. And as long as that demand exists, then spoilers will keep popping up.
Online journalist, (because yes, the people who investigate, ask around and follow information until they find the thing they want to report on ARE journalists) give the public what they want. So why blame them, and not, for instance the great number of people spoiling the season finale of Game of Thrones? The blame, if there\’s any, mind you, is on the people who demand to know more, to be spoiled. The "blame" lies in the society we live in.
So as long as people keep flocking to those reports, reading spoilers and making the visit count to those websites keep rising; then those articles will keep coming. I mean, your website should know, after all, they do report on it, even if they didn\’t get the info first. Or are you saying you, or any of your colleagues would not report on who dies in The Force Awakens, for instance, if you knew it to be 100% accurate?
Spoilers are here to stay. The good thing is, there\’s a trick to ignore most of those spoilers. Don\’t read them.
I assume these article mostly talks about El Mayimbe (El Maybe) who constantly posts these scoops and then goes on tirades when wrong. I remember he seemed pretty cocky and certain that Colin Trevorrow was going to direct Star Wars then announce it at Comic Con… Nothing was mentioned and then he started backtracking on it and didn\’t seem so certain and now shrugs off most mentions of it as "in talks" or \’what he has heard\’. At the end of the day all he did was make himself look stupid and give a reason for more studios to mistrust him. Funnily enough I believe he berated outlets for showing leaked Con footage but is what he does really any different? Very sick of both him and Sneider\’s so-called journalism, they honestly think they are privileged among the industry but actually seem like a laughing stock, there unprofessional digs at other outlets show as much.
I agree with the point on Movie bloggers trying to masquerade as professional outlets these "Scooper" types aren\’t allowed to name a source and are very unprofessional in what they do. It\’s also funny that when the slightest bit of misinformation or decline in comment is made to them they start acting like two year olds who haven\’t gotten their way. Unfortunately the most prominent scoopers on the Internet have suffered from enlarged egos constantly fairly befriending each other but berating each other in the competition to break a story before a major outlet. Unfortunately they don\’t even gain anything from this but mistrust from studios who spend time and money in marketing.
To be fair to Kevin, he does acknowledge that Indiewire isn\’t blameless. But I guess you guys just need to someone to attack, right? Also annoying.
I\’d say stop covering the Superhero garbage. After all I\’m pretty sure that you, Kevin, do not give two shits about the next Marvel movie, do you?
STFU indiewire you guys do this ALLLL the time. Pot calling the kettle black.
Navel gazing aside, this is an interesting point.
I would argue that many people don\’t mind being spoiled. They want the instant gratification of set and story spoilers. No one is forcing people to be spoiled, or to even read articles that discuss genre movies (in response to Doris above). Basically, if you don\’t want to be spoiled, don\’t go onto certain film/entertainment blogs that you know are more than likely going to spoil plot points. Be an adult and control what content you consume. It really isn\’t terribly difficult. Personally, I enjoy spoilers, and still enjoy the movie even when I know the majority of the plot points going in. It allows to look at the craft being put into the movie and judge if they are telling the story well or not.
agreed, marshal. superhero movies have become that guy at the cocktail party that was briefly hilarious and fascinating, but is becoming increasingly boorish and annoying and people want him to piss off now.
Haha, the irony!
This website use to heavily spoil films in the titles of the articles. Just yesterday you posted TMI in a Star Wars post
"Kylo Ren Is Not The Character\’s Birth Name In \’Star Wars: The Force Awakens\’"
Fcuk you Kevin/indiewire
Might I suggest you stop covering every bit of superhero news, then? As you acknowledged, this site plays into the hype machine. Rather than complain about the problem, why not be a part of the solution! It\’d certainly make me all the more likely to read and support any site that put out a blanket statement condemning the reporting on every little morsel of knowledge from these tentpoles. All it does is make you free publicity for the studios.
nowadays it feels like the movie itself is an afterthought. the real fun seems to be the scoops, the spoilers, the tweets, the trailer-for-the-trailer, the leaked trailer, the trailer, the hashtags, the anticipation and what-if of it all. the actual viewing of the movie is becoming quite irrelevant.