As theMarvel Cinematic Universehas grown to be one of the biggest franchises of all time, there have been occasions when its actors have leaked spoilers about upcoming projects. Across theMCU’s movie timeline, the franchise has grown in both scale and scope, with its branching narrative having earned it the status as one of the most popular modern franchises. As such, those who follow the MCU often find themselves hugely anticipating upcoming plot points, character introductions, or other exciting moments.
Though the actors to appear in the movies andTV shows of the MCUare typically sworn to secrecy about upcoming projects, this doesn’t always go to plan. On occasion, Marvel actors have found themselves in situations where they have inadvertently let details slip, spoiling future twists or developments in the process. Though Marvel reportedly frown on any such conduct, it has sometimes proved unavoidable, as even the most beloved Marvel actors have mistakenly revealed information ahead of time.
10Gwyneth Paltrow Dropped A Huge Spoiler About Pepper Potts And Tony Stark
Paltrow Revealed The Existence Of Morgan Stark
Having appeared in the first evermovie in the MCU, Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the franchise’s longest-serving actors. However, that experience didn’t prevent her from leaking a significant plot point ahead of the release of the hugely anticipatedAvengers: Endgame. In an interview with the officialAvengers: Infinity Warmagazine, Paltrow said: “Pepper and Tony have had a real long journey together. She obviously starts as his dutiful assistant, and then the relationship evolves, and now this decade later they’re married, and they have a child.”
The quote explicitly reveals the existence of Morgan Stark, who had not been announced ahead ofEndgame’s release. By confirming that Pepper and Tony had a child,Paltrow also subtly confirmed a time jump between the events ofInfinity WarandEndgame.As such, Paltrow inadvertently leaked multiple details aboutAvengers: Endgamein a single interview.
(Source:ComicBook.com)
9Frank Grillo Spoiled His Time Heist Return
Grillo Announced His Reappearance Despite Crossbones' Death
PerComicBook.com, actor Frank Grillo admits that he also faced backlash from Marvel after revealing multiple details ahead of time. In an interview discussing being cast in the DCU, Grillo spoke about the pressures of avoiding spoilers leading up to a major release. He referenced his difficulty in keeping secrets about his upcoming MCU performances during his time in the franchise, explaining that Marvel were displeased with his repeated spoilers.
Grillo announced his return inCaptain America: Civil Warahead of any official announcements. Likewise, he did the same ahead of his role inAvengers: Endgame’s time heist, as he hyped his reappearance even though his character had already died in the franchise’s canon. As such,Grillo revealed enough information for some to figure out the time travel aspect ofEndgamebefore the film’s release, spoiling a key MCU plot point.
8Quicksilver’s Voice Actor Revealed Evan Peters' Return
Quicksilver’s Spanish Voice Actor Was Dropped For Spoiling A Huge Twist
Another Marvel actor who leaked a major spoiler wasn’t one of the franchise’s live-action performers, but rather one of its Spanish voice actors. Rodri Martin served as the actor to perform the Spanish voice of Evan Peters’ Quicksilver inFox’sX-Menmovie franchise, but was fired from the role after spoiling his casting in the MCU. Martin announced his return to the role – and therefore, Peters’ return, too - ahead of the actor’s appearance inWandaVision.
Evan Peters’ return as Quicksilver inWandaVisionwas a major twist, as the MCU’s previous iteration of the character was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Peters’ appearance was another mind-bending aspect ofWandaVision’s story, only later being made clear by further revelations. However,Martin’s hasty announcement of his return included the announcement of Peters’ own, leaking a huge MCU plot point ahead of time.
(Source:TheDirect.com)
7Dave Bautista Announced A Spoiler Before Anyone Could Stop Him
Bautista Confirmed Drax’s Survival Incredibly Early On
One of the most significant moments in MCU history came at the end ofAvengers: Infinity War, when Thanos was able to amass the Infinity Stones and execute his plan of eradicating half of all life in the universe. This saw half of the MCU’s characters turn to dust, leading to a huge cliffhanger that set up the enticing culmination of the Infinity Saga,Avengers: Endgame. However, some Marvel actors, such as Dave Bautista, hastily announced their return to the franchise, confirming that their characters would somehow survive their apparent demise.
In an interview withColliderafter the release ofInfinity War,Bautista confirmed that he had already filmed his scenes forAvengers: Endgame.He went on to announce that he had also signed on as part ofGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s cast, confirming that his character had not only survivedInfinity War, but that he would also survive the events of the then-unreleasedEndgame. Though Bautista wasn’t the only actor to do so, his hasty announcement spoiled one of the MCU’s biggest narrative developments.
6Evangeline Lilly Leaked The Return Of Ant-Man’s Villain
Context Clues Spoiled One Of Quantumania’s Major Twists
Sometimes, Marvel actors indirectly leak big spoilers in the subtlest of ways. Due to the popularity of the MCU, actors’ interviews and social media posts are often carefully examined for clues as to what may be to come in upcoming MCU projects, and Hope Van Dyne actor Evangeline Lilly was caught out in just such a manner. During the production ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Lilly posted a picture online of the front page of her script, tagging her co-stars.
Lilly had tagged Corey Stoll, whose character, Darren Cross, had seemingly died after his Yellowjacket suit malfunctioned inAnt-Man. Her premature hint at his return, combined with Marvel teasing the MCU giving the villain MODOK a new origin story and identity, led many fans to correctly surmise that Stoll would be assuming the role.What would have otherwise been an unexpected twist was ultimately spoiled by an innocent social media postfrom an excited Marvel actor.
5Alfred Molina Announced His Return Well In Advance
Molina Was Too Excited About Doc Ock To Keep It Secret
Thecast ofSpider-Man: No Way Homefeatured a number of familiar faces from the hero’s cinematic history, cracking open Marvel’s multiverse in a massive way. While many actors’ returns were kept quiet leading up to the film’s release, one of its villains was revealed months earlier. Alfred Molina, who played Otto Octavius – A.K.A. Doc Ock – in 2004’sSpider-Man 2, announced his return nine months beforeNo Way Home’s release.
Speaking withVarietyat the time, Molina confirmed that he would be reprising the role in the MCU movie. As Molina leaked the information so far in advance, Marvel Studios went on to use him in promotional materials for the film. However,it’s unlikely that he was originally intended to announce his casting, as many of the movie’s other multiversal inclusions were kept secretleading up to its release.
4Samuel L Jackson’s Spoiler Was Hugely Disappointing
Jackson Hinted At An Exciting Story That Proved Underwhelming
Samuel L. Jackson not only plays one of the most important characters in the MCU, but is also one of the franchise’s most celebrated actors. However, this hasn’t rendered him entirely immune from leaking information, as he has also fallen victim to fans’ overwhelming anticipation of upcoming releases. Leading up to the release ofCaptain Marvel,Jackson announced that the film would explain the origin of how Nick Fury lost his eye.Naturally, many were excited about the development.
Unfortunately, the ultimate reveal was incredibly underwhelming, and Jackson offering up the tease ahead of time was met with backlash. What’s more, earlier in his MCU career, someone in Marvel’s production office made a copy of Jackson’s script ofThe Avengersand posted it for sale online. Though the latter certainly wasn’t Jackson’s fault, it outlines the ways in which an actor can be used to either let details slip, or have them leaked ahead of time.
(Sources:Entertainment Weekly,Entertainment Tonight)
3Chris Evans' Emotional Goodbye Prematurely Confirmed His MCU Exit
Though Chris Evans typically has a reasonably good track record for keeping MCU secrets, he still slipped up once or twice over the course of the Infinity Saga. Perhaps the biggest example of this came about as the result of Marvel’s own secret-keeping tactics. After reading his script forAvengers: Endgame, Evans accidentally revealed Sam Wilson as the new Captain America to actor Anthony Mackie, who had not been made aware in his own script.
What’s more, Evans also heavily hinted at such an outcome on social media ahead of the film’s release.The actor posted an emotional farewell to the character of Steve Rogers beforeEndgamehit theaters, prompting speculation about the potential death or retirement of the MCU’s Captain America. Ultimately, it proved to be true, and though Evans didn’t explicitly spoil his ending, he certainly teased it prematurely.
2Tom Holland’s History Of Dropping Spoilers Is Well-Known
Holland’s MCU Spoiler Record Is Not Good
At one time, Tom Holland was one of the MCU’s biggest liabilities in terms of keeping upcoming narrative developments quiet. The actor earned himself a reputation for being unable to keep secrets, repeatedly letting details slip in interviews, much to the dismay of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. However, it’s fair to note that Holland redeemed himself somewhat ahead ofSpider-Man: No Way Home, as he successfully kept the appearances of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield secret.
Perhaps the most infamous example of Holland serving up MCU spoilers came on opening night ofAvengers: Infinity War.Mistakenly believing that his appearance in front of the audience was after the screening, Holland announced “I’m alive!”, tipping them off to his deathin the movie’s ending. Many of Holland’s other MCU leaks have been relatively minor, but he still earned himself a reputation as a terrible secret-keeper.
1Mark Ruffalo Is The MCU’s Worst Secret-Keeper
Ruffalo Has Let Many Spoilers Slip
Over the years, Mark Ruffalo has proved himself to be by far the worst at keeping MCU secrets. Not only has he slipped up as regularly as Tom Holland, but he has let significant details leak to the public ahead of time on multiple occasions. Most notable is the time that Ruffalo accidentally forgot to end a live stream ahead ofThor: Ragnarok’s premiere, sharing the audio of the film’s opening 10 minutes with his audience.
Ruffalo gleefully also announced in an interview that “everybody dies” inAvengers: Infinity Warahead of its release, spoiling one of the biggest MCU twists of all time. The Hulk actor additionally spoiled Steve Rogers’ MCU ending, having thought it to be from a fake script given to him specifically to prevent spoilers. As a result, Mark Ruffalo has earned himself the status of the actor most likely to leak details ahead of aMarvel Cinematic Universerelease.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
