Joe Russo says spoiler culture scares audiences

Marvel is trying to sell another giant event movie, and Joe Russo just made the pitch in a weirdly revealing way. While talking about *Avengers: Doomsday*, Russo said spoiler culture has become so intense that people are now “anxious about engaging with anything” before a movie comes out. That sounds like a complaint about online fandom. But it also doubles as a diagnosis for why so many franchise movies now struggle to feel fun before release. ### What did Russo actually say? The core point was simple. Surprises matter, and Marvel absolutely designs its movies around reveal moments. But Russo argued the culture around protecting those reveals has gone too far — to the point where even basic discussion or marketing can feel risky for fans. His broader argument was that a movie should still work after the twist is gone. If it only survives on secrecy, that’s a weakness, not a strength. ### Why is this coming up now? Because *Avengers: Doomsday* is not just another Marvel release. It’s the studio’s next big reset button — due December 18, 2026 — and Marvel is loading it with familiar faces to recreate the old event-movie electricity. Robert Downey Jr. is back, this time as Doctor Doom, and the cast list reaches across Avengers and X-Men-era characters. That makes spoilers feel especially combustible, because the marketing itself is built around surprise, nostalgia, and crossover spectacle. ### Is spoiler panic really hurting audiences? Maybe a little — but probably not in the way Russo suggests. The real issue is less “people are scared” than “people have learned to wait.” Franchise fans now know that every trailer, leak, casting rumor, and post-credit tease is part of a long pre-release content stream. Instead of making the movie feel urgent, that stream can make it feel half-consumed before opening night. Avoiding spoilers becomes another form of homework. And homework is terrible marketing for a popcorn movie. ### Does the box office back him up? It backs up the idea that Marvel has a demand problem. It does not cleanly prove spoilers are the cause. Marvel’s 2025 slate underperformed by old MCU standards: *Captain America: Brave New World* finished at about $415.1 million worldwide, *Thunderbolts* at about $382.4 million, and *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* at about $521.9 million. Those are not disasters in a vacuum. But they are modest numbers for a studio that used to treat $700 million as a normal outcome for major titles. ### So what else is going on? Franchise fatigue is the obvious answer, but that phrase is too vague to do much work. The sharper version is this: audiences have become pickier about which chapter feels essential. During Marvel’s peak, the brand itself was the event. Now each film has to justify why this particular story matters, why this cast matters, and why it needs a theater ticket right now. When that case is fuzzy, people wait for streaming — spoiler-free or not. ### Why does Russo’s argument still matter? Because he’s putting his finger on something real about modern fandom. The online rules around what counts as a spoiler have expanded way beyond plot twists. Casting news can be treated like a spoiler. Trailer shots can be treated like spoilers. Even saying you liked a scene too loudly, too early, can feel like a social violation. That changes how people talk about movies before they’ve even seen them. Russo’s point is that this fear can drain some of the communal fun out of blockbuster culture. ### What’s the catch for Marvel? Marvel helped build the exact environment Russo is now criticizing. The studio trained audiences to hunt for clues, decode cameos, and treat secrecy as value in itself. That strategy worked brilliantly when the movies were consistently landing. But once the hit rate slipped, secrecy stopped feeling like magic and started feeling like a hedge. ### Bottom line? Russo is probably right that spoiler culture got too intense. But spoiler anxiety looks more like a symptom than the disease. If *Avengers: Doomsday* works, people will talk about it because it’s great — not because nobody knew what was coming.