Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios, Movies | Tagged: deadpool & wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine – To Spoil Or Not To Spoil: That Is The Question

Marvel said not to spoil Deadpool & Wolverine, only to turn around and bring out the actors for all of the big cameos during the Hall H presentation.

Deadpool & Wolverine is officially in theaters and with that has once again come the discussion of spoilers. Everyone seems to have a different definition of what is or isn't a spoiler. Does it count if it's revealed in official marketing? Is it even possible to avoid spoilers in the age of the internet when someone might be an asshole and spoil something for the lulz? This conversation happens often, and comic book movies are usually Exhibit A that come up the most regarding this debate. We all knew there would be cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine, and they had dropped the reveals of a couple of them in trailers and official marketing, but there would be more; we all knew there would be more. If you saw the film as a member of the press, you were told:

"In order to give audiences around the world the opportunity to enjoy our movies to the fullest and allow them to discover any surprises and plot twists, we respectfully ask that you as press refrain from revealing spoilers, cameos, character developments, and detailed story points in your coverage, including on social media."

So the social reactions went up Monday night and the reviews on Tuesday morning, with most people adhering to the spoiler guidelines set up by Disney and Marvel. Then, the Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con happened. To get into this, we're going to [ironically] throw up a spoiler warning. The reveals we're going to be talking about in this post are presented in the film as surprises, and they work best as surprises. The narrative wants you to be shocked by them; hence, they aren't supposed to be spoiled. So if you have been able to remain spoiler-free for Deadpool & Wolverine and you want to remain so, consider this a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING, and don't scroll beyond the following image.

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Deadpool & Wolverine Was Spoiled For A Victory Lap

Several big X-Men cameos were spoiled in the marketing for Deadpool & Wolverine, including Tyler Mane as Sabretooth, Aaron Stanford as Pyro, and Dafne Keen as Laura, aka X-23. However, those were not the only big cameos in the film. We also get to see Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Wesley Snipes as Blade, and Channing Tatum as Gambit. All of those previous cameos are introduced in ways within the narrative as surprises. You think Evans is Captain America for a moment, and the other three are introduced with them doing slow-motion badass superhero walks into a room. These reveals are presented as surprises within the narrative so them being spoiled ahead of time is detrimental to the film, in some ways. We spoke about this during our review of Abigail, where her being a vampire is set up as a mystery within the narrative, but the trailer spoiled it right away, lending to an odd dissonance. Usually, when it comes to spoilers like this, Marvel wants everyone to keep their mouths shut and they even told people not to spoil anything on their own social media accounts.

However, if Marvel wanted everything to remain a secret, then they shouldn't have used the Hall H presentation as a full victory lap. We had a feeling the panel would either be a screening, Marvel taking a victory lap for the box office records they are about to break, or both, and it turns out they were going for both. However, after screening the film for audiences, they decided to bring out Garner, Snipes, Tatum, and Evans on stage.  While that is very cool for fans, once you put people on stage like that, it's impossible to hide what was going on. Garner was heavily rumored to be in the movie already, but this was confirmation; word is out, and anyone who would be impacted by these cameos has had the experience taken away from them.

Now, it is nice to see people like Garner get her flowers because she put everything into that role even if it wasn't good and Snipes deserves all the credit in the universe for the work that was put into the Blade films. It's nice for Tatum, who really did appear to have a lot of love for the character of Gambit, and he got to put him on screen, even if it was for a bit. As for Evans, people have been asking for this one ever since the idea of the multiverse was introduced. All of this is excellent and letting them get on that stage in front of the crowd of Hall H fans is awesome. It just would have been better if Deadpool & Wolverine came out last week instead of this week.

The ironic thing is that if I or any other critic had mentioned any of the above spoilers, we would have been lambasted by Marvel and Disney and maybe even blacklisted. You don't get to play the "don't spoil anything" game and then bring up all of the actors for all of the biggest spoilers on stage in front of 5000 people where it is impossible to hide. Some of them are doing interviews; it could not be more obvious if you're a fan paying attention, and the fans who are paying attention are the ones who would care the most.

There are some other really good cameos and things hidden in Deadpool & Wolverine, but Marvel playing the "no spoilers" game on your social media accounts while bringing out the actors for all of the biggest spoilers and having them do press makes no sense. They did a decent job drip-feeding leaks and spoilers, even releasing fake stuff, only to spoil everything themselves Thursday night long before most fans ever had a chance to see the film.

Deadpool & Wolverine: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Marvel Studios presents their most significant mistake to date—Deadpool & Wolverine. A listless Wade Wilson toils away in civilian life. His days as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, behind him. When his homeworld faces an existential threat, Wade must reluctantly suit up again with an even more reluctantlier… reluctanter? Reluctantest? He must convince a reluctant Wolverine to—Fuck. Synopses are so fucking stupid.

Shawn Levy directs Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen.

Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, and Lauren Shuler Donner produce, with Louis D'Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey, Simon Kinberg, and Jonathon Komack Martin serving as executive producers. Deadpool & Wolverine is written by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Shawn Levy.

Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine opens in U.S. & Canadian movie theaters on July 26 and will be available in IMAX, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, Cinemark XD, and premium screens everywhere.

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