Last week, ahead of the premiere of Avengers: Endgame, directors Anthony and Joe Russo took a move that has very little precedent, if any at all.
At early press screenings for the movie, the hashtag #DontSpoilTheEndgame was emblazoned across the screen. The plot details of movies have become so sacred to us that those tasked with promoting films are asking us not to talk about them. Indeed, the"Dumbledore dies" revelation at the end of 2005's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was much more of a real life threat than an online one.
The advent of binge-watching has not helped matters. Back when the only way to watch things was at the same time each week, there could be some kind of predictability as to when people would be discussing the major plot points of each episode. You weren't going to get an episode 7 spoiler while you were only on episode 2. Now even that safety has been stripped away.
Spoilers are therefore considered to be a feature of the internet age. Not just because the internet has made spoilers harder to avoid, but also more devastating to one's quality of life.
TVsCarlKinsella Spoilers are annoying yeah but as far as ‘scariest psychological threats’ go, you may just need to get out more