Former Marvel Lawyer Reveals What Can Happen To Stars Who Leak Spoilers
With any piece of media, the issue of spoilers arises. Marvel is no stranger to this if all of the Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo memes are anything to go by. Those are major stars though, ones that would be difficult to replace. So, what exactly happens when spoilers get leaked?
Former Marvel Studios Lead Production Attorney, Paul Sarker, answered this question on a Reddit AMA thread. He shares that this would “likely be a breach of contract” and put the responsible party in the position to be sued, with “damages being hard to pin down in the abstract.”
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Spoilers can be a major problem for anyone, but especially with Marvel productions. The storylines that Feige and Co. have crafted build on each other in an extremely in-depth manner. If a detail gets leaked about a character or plot device, the entire story could be unraveled not only in the relevant piece of media but in the long-term direction as well.
The thing with leaks and spoilers is that they get clicks. It’s a possible way to drum up hype around something and to get some free advertising. Some of the Marvel spoilers we’ve seen could be just that, like Tom Holland’s Infinity Wars poster incident. It had a staged vibe, there was explicit writing that whatever he was opening was ‘top secret,’ and the whole situation was played off in a comical manner.
Other incidents don’t seem to subscribe to the staging, however. Take Mark Ruffalo’s accidental live streaming of Thor: Ragnarok for example. Facebook Live was a newer concept to the actor, and he didn’t know how to use it all that well. Rather than ending the stream, he ended the video capture, leaving the audio on. Luckily it turned out well in the end, but it very easily could’ve gone in a different direction.
The danger for the actors is real. A financial penalty is an explicit punishment, but consider what would happen to their reputation. If other producers knew the actor could be a liability when it comes to keeping secrets, they could be less inclined to work with them. With a giant such as Marvel, the mistake of a spoiler would spread incredibly fast and hang over the person for years to come. One of the most recent additions to the Marvel crew, Iman Vellani, made sure to avoid this fate.
A lot of press occurred for the newest Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. A common time for spoilers to get leaked would be during their interviews. The actress, who made her debut as Kamala Khan on June 8th, made a stop on The Daily Show with Trever Noah. As usual, the onslaught of questions came in an effort to get an exclusive detail or two, but Vellani held out. She kept any spoiler to herself and kept everyone engaged with her clear devotion to the franchise. It probably helped that she had a promise to Feige himself that she wouldn’t become another Tom Holland when it comes to leaks. That level of pressure could probably keep the aforementioned actor himself quiet.
Spoilers and leaks happen, these people are humans who make errors sometimes. The result of these errors can weigh pretty heavily when the situation is right for it, though things have worked out so far. Knowing what may happen to these actors and actresses who leak things puts the gravity of the situation into a perceivable context for the average Joe. I, for one, am looking back on all the leaks with a whole new lens with this new information.
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Source(s): ScreenRant, Reddit