In the world of superhero movies, secrecy is key. Actors have spoken freely about the lengths the likes of Marvel Studios and DC/Warner Brothers will go to in order to keep their tent-pole movies’ plot/character details a secret until they are absolutely positively ready to reveal them to the world. For instance, only a few actors starring in Avengers: Infinity War were offered access to the entire shooting script, and had to read it in one sitting in a locked room, with their smartphones checked in at the door. Other actors were only given relevant script pages as, and when, they needed them to film scenes.
Of course, these cloak and dagger tactics make sense, as the internet is full of people trying at every opportunity to grab a scoop that can be used to drive traffic to their website, and no movie studio wants to risk losing out on millions of dollars if things are spoiled ahead of time. But, problems arise whenever the actors are sent off to do their press duties. These press tours are often long and exhausting, as the actors travel all over the world and regularly answer similar questions from multiple outlets. Over the years it has led to many occasions when actors have seemingly forgotten what they are and aren’t allowed to say, or have accidentally let something slip in the course of conversation that they otherwise wouldn’t have. We’ve definitely got some sympathy with them in most of these cases, as human beings make mistakes. But hey, gotta get those clicks!
Here are 20 twists that superhero actors spoiled for fans.
HUGH JACKMAN REVEALS WOLVERINE’S FATE (LOGAN)
Logan was released in theaters on 3rd March 2017. One day later, a spoilerific interview with Hugh Jackman was published by Entertainment Weekly, in which he went into great detail about the decision to have Logan pass away at the end of the film! Jackman hadn’t been shy about telling the world that the movie would be his last time playing Wolverine and therefore most fans suspected he might bite the dust. But to confirm it only a day after release, when many fans had yet to see the movie, was maybe a strange move. Brilliantly, he did reveal that the person who solidified to him that this should be his last go-around was friend and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who gave him some pearls of wisdom when speaking about his decision to end his iconic 90’s sitcom.
MARK RUFFALO LIVE STREAMS FIRST TEN MINUTES (THOR: RAGNAROK)
The Thor: Ragnarok world premiere was held at the El Capitan theatre in Los Angeles on 9th October 2017. Stars Chris Hemsworth and Cate Blanchett were in attendance, but it was their co-star Mark Ruffalo who grabbed most of the headlines when he accidentally live streamed the first 10 minutes of the movie on Instagram Live! He later explained that he thought he had cancelled the application after doing a fan interaction before the premiere, but didn’t realize he needed to press two buttons to do this, and so wound up broadcasting the movie to millions of people! Apparently, a Disney representative had to run over to him, in a panic, to let him know his mistake. He joked that he thought he was going to get fired over the blunder, but it all turned out okay in the end.
FRANK GRILLO REVEALS FLASHBACK CAMEO (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
Frank Grillo (The Purge: Election Year) appeared in both The Winter Soldier and Civil War as Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones. Initially a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and commander of their counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E. unit, he was revealed to be a double agent working for Hydra. He was horrifically scarred in battle and returned at the start of Civil War as Crossbones, a mercenary super-villain. He lost his life in that scene, but Grillo dropped a big spoiler on the UFC Unfiltered podcast when he said that Crossbones would return in Avengers: Endgame in a flashback. His take of ‘I’m allowed to say whatever I want because I’m never doing another Marvel movie’ was interesting. We can’t imagine Marvel being entirely cool with that attitude!
SAMUEL L. JACKSON SPOILS FUTURE MCU FILMS (AVENGERS: ENDGAME & CAPTAIN MARVEL)
In a January 8th 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Samuel L. Jackson was remarkably loose-lipped about his role in the upcoming Captain Marvel. Initially unsure what he was and wasn’t allowed to say, a publicist told him he could speak about Nick Fury’s basic backstory in the prequel film. He then straight up told the interviewer that we would see how Fury loses his eye in the film! He then went on to wax lyrical about the powers of Carol Danvers and said that the Avengers are up against tough odds with Thanos, so they need someone as powerful to combat him. Then he dropped the mother-load, revealing that Carol can time-travel. Wait, what?! We’d be hugely surprised if this power isn’t key to how the heroes beat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame!
GWYNETH PALTROW SPOILS PEPPER’S ROLE (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
Gwyneth Paltrow has been a bit of a goldmine in terms of potential Avengers: Endgame spoilers. Firstly, back in December 2017 she posted a video on Instagram while receiving a foot massage before going on the set. The video was soon taken down, as it showed Paltrow’s legs and she was clearly wearing a motion-capture suit! This seemed to hint that Pepper Potts would be wearing some armor of her own in the film and in October 2018 a leaked set photo of her wearing some sort of armor/costume confirmed this. Perhaps her Rescue identity will be key to the film? She also potentially dropped a clanger in May 2018 when, in her official Infinity War magazine interview, she said that Tony and Pepper have a child in Endgame! Oh Gwyneth. Never change.
ANNE HATHAWAY AWAY THE ENDING (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES)
This one is harsh on Anne Hathaway, as it was really The Late Show host David Letterman who waded into the area of spoilers, but her reaction seemed to indicate that he might have been on to something! In the midst of a fun interview in which Letterman spoke very highly of The Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole, he said ‘I think this is it and in the end, Batman is [gone].’ Hathaway looked taken off guard and tried to play it off as a joke, before saying ‘You know that’s a whole thing, right?’ (referring to fan speculation about Batman’s demise in the movie). Letterman then joked to the audience ‘He’s not…! Just relax, will ya?’. He was, of course, close to the truth as Batman does seemingly lose his life in the film, only to be shown alive in the last scene with Hathaway’s Catwoman.
SEBASTIAN STAN SPOILS MCU CAMEOS (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
Bucky Barnes actor Sebastian Stan may have given away a potential spoiler for Avengers: Endgame way back on 17th April 2018, which was before Avengers: Infinity War was even released! The Winter Soldier star was asked by The Independent about complicated scenes with lots of characters present and he said that there was scene they filmed, that took three months to plan, and ’everyone’ was there. He then specifically named Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfieffer, who play Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne in the Ant-Man movies but have yet to appear in an Avengers film. In fact, at the time of the interview Pfieffer hadn’t even been seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp yet! It begs the question: was Stan actually speaking of an important scene from Endgame?
MICHAEL KEATON GIVES AWAY BRUCE’S CONNECTION WITH THE JOKER (BATMAN)
The phenomenon of actors spoiling their upcoming superhero movies didn’t just start with their current omnipresence in cinema. In fact, almost 30 years ago, Michael Keaton dropped a massive spoiler the night before the release of Tim Burton’s Batman! Keaton was appearing on Letterman to hype the film and got into a discussion about the wonders of working with his idol Jack Nicholon, who was playing The Joker. Letterman asked what made Batman and Joker enemies and Keaton launched into a response about Bruce Wayne’s parents losing their lives when he was a child. Letterman asked if Joker did that and Keaton quickly said ‘yes, but he doesn’t know it till later’. He then seemed to realize his mistake and said ‘I’m kind of blowing the plot here’. Whoops!
TOM HOLLAND SPOILED HIS WEB-SHOOTERS (SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING)
This is Spider-Man actor Tom Holland’s first appearance on this list, but it certainly won’t be his last! He’s become so notorious over the last few years for accidentally revealing spoilers during interviews that Marvel actually paired him with Benedict Cumberbatch during the Avengers: Infinity War press tour, expressly with the purpose of keeping his spoilerific tendencies in check. He said too much at San Diego Comic Con in 2016 when asked about Peter Parker’s mechanical web shooters. He said the filmmakers had worked on different types of web, as there wasn’t just one web function in the movie. He quickly realized he might’ve given something away; he was pretty close to spilling the beans that the web shooters Peter uses were designed by Tony Stark.
JASON MOMOA SPOILS BLACK MANTA’S FATE (AQUAMAN)
Jason Momoa turned into a regular Tom Holland while on the promotional trail for Aquaman, giving away two spoilers in the lead-up to release (one of which was a lot bigger than the other). Firstly, during an interview with EW at San Diego Comic Con in July, he said that the final shot of the movie would be Arthur Curry actually becoming ‘what he’s destined to be’; meaning, the King Of Atlantis. However, his next spoiler was much worse. A week before the film’s US release, he and co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden to plug the movie. Pretty much unprompted, Momoa dropped the plot bombshell that Aquaman defeats Black Manta’s father in the film! Even Corden and his other guest Julia Roberts looked shocked.
MARK RUFFALO SPOILS “THE SNAP” (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR)
At the time, this was treated as nothing more than a joke, but in retrospect, it’s arguably the biggest plot spoiler ever dropped by a superhero actor. In an interview with Good Morning America at the Disney D23 Expo in July 2017, actors Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo were asked about Avengers: Infinity War. Rumors had been circulating about characters dying in the film and Cheadle was playing it perfectly coy… until Ruffalo decided to jump in with ‘Wait till you see this next one," giving away that everybody loses their life at the end of the film. Cheadle exclaimed ‘Dude!’ and there was a noticeable change in atmosphere as Ruffalo realized his mistake and Cheadle quietly simmered. It was awkward. He was, of course, referring to ’the snap’, in which Thanos erased half the universe in an instant.
JENNIFER GARNER SPOILS AFFLECK’S SUIT (BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE)
This one is a case of an actress getting in hot water for sharing things about a movie she wasn’t even in! In January 2014, Jennifer Garner spoke of her then-husband Ben Affleck’s Batman costume in the upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice as a ’total reinvention’. She also said she would be in Detroit in summer 2014, as Affleck was filming there, which led many outlets to correctly guess that the DC movie was filming its Gotham scenes there. When she was subsequently interviewed by Collider in April 2014, she revealed that she’d ‘gotten in some trouble’ for her quotes and that people wouldn’t be hearing from her ‘on the Batman front’ in the future. In her defense, this sounds like DC/Warners being overly secretive, so we’ve got some sympathy for her.
EXTRA TRIES TO SPOIL FILM (BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE)
In October 2014, an anonymous extra (or background artist) who worked on Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice risked the wrath of DC/Warner Brothers when he told Detroit news outlet WILX-10 News about some of the movie’s plot details. He said that Jena Malone (Sucker Punch) was playing Carrie Kelley aka Robin and that a scene shot at the Art Museum on the Michigan State University campus featured a fight between Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne that also involved the military. In the end, he ran the risk of Warners hitting him with a $5 million fine for breaching the confidentiality agreement he would’ve signed to work on the film, for information that wasn’t even correct. For example, Malone played Jenet Klyburn and all her scenes were cut!
DAVE BAUTISTA SPOILS MASS REVIVAL (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
When Guardians Of The Galaxy writer/director James Gunn was fired by Marvel/Disney in the wake of offensive tweets resurfacing, it left everything up in the air regarding the third Guardians movie, which he had already completed the script for. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, made no secret of his distaste for what was done to Gunn and perhaps this influenced him being more loose-lipped than usual on the press tour for his movie Final Score. He told Good Morning Britain that the Guardians definitely appear in Avengers: Endgame and that he was signed up for Guardians 3 as well, despite most of the team being ‘killed’ by Thanos’ snap. He reasoned that nobody told him not to say anything, but perhaps this was his way of sticking it to the powers that be.
TOM HOLLAND SPOILS PETER’S FATE (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR)
Ah, Tom Holland. As good natured and likeable as he is, he’s got to give Marvel executive’s palpitations when they send him on a press tour for a movie. Our favorite Holland spoiler is definitely this one. Picture the scene: it’s April 28th 2018 and the ArcLight Theatre crowd in Hollywood has packed out the cinema to watch Avengers: Infinity War. But there’s a surprise: Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige, and directors the Russo Brothers are at the theatre to introduce the movie! They walk out on-stage and Holland, somehow forgetting what they were there to do, yelled out ‘I’m alive!’, referring to Spidey’s traumatic fate in Tony Stark’s arms. Cue a nervous question: ‘Wait, have you guys seen it or are you about to see it?’. D’oh!
ALAIN CHANOINE SPOILS HIS OWN ROLE (SUICIDE SQUAD)
Canadian actor Alain Chanoine mightn’t be a household name, but he played a pivotal role in Suicide Squad: Incubus, the Enchantress’ brother and requisite superhero movie ‘big CGI bad guy’. On the very day the movie was released (August 5th 2016) an interview dropped in which he revealed all secrets about the role and also let it slip that he played a second role in the film too. It required much less motion-capture technology and leotards with green dots; he also played one of the Joker’s henchmen, dubbed the ’eyes of the adversary’, due to the fact they wore big eyeball helmets. Ironically, Chanoine said director David Ayer didn’t know he had been hired for two different roles until he saw him at separate meetings regarding Incubus and the adversaries!
ZOE SALDANA SPOILS GAMORA’S REVIVAL (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
The devastating Avengers: Infinity War ending threw up all sorts of potential spoiler pitfalls for the actors working on the movie and its sequel Avengers: Endgame. With half the cast seemingly written off, fans and media outlets were itching to know if or when they’d be resurrected. That put the ball in the actors’ courts, regarding what they could or couldn’t say. As part of E! Live From The Red Carpet, Zoe Saldana was asked what it was like saying goodbye to her co-stars and she responded that it was more like a ’to be continued’ situation, as they all will have to ‘come back, at some point this fall, and finish up the fourth installment of Avengers’. This didn’t exactly jive with the fact that Gamora met her demise at the hands of her father Thanos in Infinity War…
PRESS TOUR SPOILS SUPERMAN’S RETURN (JUSTICE LEAGUE)
Justice League was meant to be the DCEU’s crowning glory but wound up a critical and commercial disaster due to lingering dislike of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Once audiences then realized the movie was bad? It was all but over for the franchise. One of the biggest mistakes made by DC/Warners in promoting the film was the decision to leave Superman out of any promotional materials, such as posters and trailers. Fans fully expected his fate in Dawn Of Justice to simply be temporary, but the studio seemed to want to maintain some mystery. Bizarrely though, they still sent Henry Cavill on the press tour, which made him a walking spoiler in human form; why would he promote a movie he wasn’t in? Cavill later called the situation ‘faintly ridiculous’.
CHRIS EVANS REVEALS CAP’S FAREWELL (AVENGERS: ENDGAME)
In October 2018, Chris Evans sent the internet into meltdown when he tweeted about wrapping filming on Avengers: Endgame. He wrote that ‘playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor… thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful.’ Given the seemingly final nature of his words, an outpouring of emotion from fans and even other actors (including Ryan Reynolds) indicated that the world believed he was announcing his MCU retirement. However, two months later director Joe Russo was quoted as saying ‘he’s not done yet’ when asked about Evans, but wouldn’t elaborate much further. So, either Evans told the world a potential spoiler about Cap’s MCU fate or his emotional words were simply misinterpreted. Or he was trolling everyone…
PATTY JENKINS REVEALS STEVE TREVOR’S RETURN (WONDER WOMAN 1986)
In June 2018, director Patty Jenkins revealed on her Twitter account that Chris Pine (Star Trek) would be returning as Steve Trevor for the currently-in-development sequel Wonder Woman 1984. She and star Gal Gadot also revealed the first production stills, which included a confused-looking Steve wearing 80’s attire. Now, this was pretty big news considering Steve lost his life rather heroically at the end of Wonder Woman, which was set during the first World War. Fans naturally went into overdrive trying to work out how Steve could be alive again and also why he looks the same despite the movie being set 60 years later. We understand it would’ve been hard for the production to keep Pine’s involvement secret, but it certainly spoiled what could’ve been a worthwhile surprise for fans.
