Don’t spoil the Endgame: Why fans are keeping Avengers’ secrets

Fans and critics around the globe have gone to unprecedented lengths to keep the movie — which has smashed box office records since opening on Wednesday — spoiler-free. But why?

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Did you hear about that mind-blowing plot twist in Avengers: Endgame?

Thankfully, unless you have seen the epic, record-breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe finale, you probably haven’t.

That’s because fans and critics around the globe have gone to unprecedented lengths to keep the movie — which has smashed box office records since opening on Wednesday — spoiler-free.

Chris Hemsworth, aka Thor, after a swim in Byron. Picture: media-mode.com

With moviegoers having invested 11 years watching the 21 prior instalments, Avengers: Endgame, which has already taken more than $20 million in Australia and is on track for a record-shattering $US300m weekend in the US, is a protected species.

It’s a similar story with the final season of Foxtel blockbuster fantasy Game of Thrones: Be warned, if you give away even the slightest detail from one of these titles, you will suffer at the hands of a vocal and triggered online mob.

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NFL star LeSean McCoy found that out the hard way this week. After watching Avengers: Endgame, the Buffalo Bills running back took to social media to voice his displeasure at the ending, in the process giving away huge parts of the story.

The response was swift and harsh, with some fans calling for him to be suspended for the rest of the season and others begging rival teams to “destroy him” on the field.

Mark Ruffalo with fans at the world premiere of Avengers: Endgame in Los Angeles. Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images/AFP

Even those who had filters in place to avoid such a disastrous situation were stung — because McCoy clearly can’t spell.

A virtual iron curtain has fallen around those who have seen Endgame and Game Of Thrones, but why such a monumental effort and why now?

“There is so much entertainment these days but there are a select few properties that people deem to be so good they just can’t stand being spoiled,” said Aaron Couch, a senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter.

“The combination of Game of Thrones and Marvel are so good that it would really hurt to be spoiled.”

Luke Lancaster, the content director of Australian pop culture events Comic-Con and PAX, believes the “demystifying and destigmatising” of the superhero genre and fantasy fiction in general has also helped increase its voice.

“With something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Game of Thrones, they’ve become cultural touchstones on such a grand scale,” he says.

“It’s also becoming generational — a lot of the people who grew up loving this as kids now have their own kids and families and it’s being carried forward as a tradition almost.”

Lancaster, who’s a huge Marvel fan and writes comics himself, began to set up private Facebook message groups to avoid spoiling the big movies for his friends and followers. As more people see the movie, the group gets bigger and bigger.

Chris Evans takes a selfie with a fan as he arrives at the premiere this week. Picture: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

“I think the importance about things like Avengers and Game of Thrones is that people have been waiting years for this new content,” he said. “I think people are aware of making it the best experience for other fans and that’s really encouraging to see.’

This veil of secrecy isn’t just confined to fans either. Lancaster said he had heard that cast and crew of Avengers: Endgame were offered incentives to keep any and all storylines to themselves.

Star Wars legend Mark Hamill last year gave some insight into what the level of security was like around huge franchise films, in his case Episode IX.

“It’s like working for some secret deep state government organisation, like being in the CIA,” he told Entertainment Weekly last year about not being able to take his script home.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo themselves took to Twitter to implore audiences to keep the secrets of the movie to themselves.

“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,” they wrote, using the hashtag #DontSpoilTheEndgame which immediately went viral.

Such secrecy also poses a dilemma for critics who usually have more scope to discuss plot lines and story arcs, but must be very careful with these types of shows.

The Sunday Telegraph movie reviewer Vicky Roach decided to focus on a much broader evaluation of Avengers: Endgame, writing about the “tone of the piece … the film’s epic scope, it’s hugely ambitious … rather than to go into too much concrete detail.”