I DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BEFORE I GO SEE IT!
Film trailers are great - and necessary - to get people excited about a new film. They create hype, give people info about the release; but all too often it feels like those ‘teasers’ are full-on spoilers that ruin a bit of the film.
Take the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok for instance. The 2017 superhero action extravaganza is not just a sequel, but part of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, and (SPOILERS) included a lot of Marvel’s characters; not just Loki and Odin, but Bruce Banner/Hulk and references to Tony Stark/Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers. Of course, these ‘external’ characters are popular with audiences and may even bring in non-Thor fans to the film, so naturally the studio wants to entice people in by showing these characters are in the film.
Unfortunately, it also kind of spoils it (as will the following). I was SO excited with the Hulk’s reveal in the trailer, but this affected how I reacted when that scene happened in the film. On the one hand, I expected it and had it in the back of my mind throughout the start. On the other hand, it built up a kind of anticipation that I was super excited for, and when that scene seemed to be coming up, I started bouncing in my seat. So it really is a double-edged sword.
I do have to give kudos to Marvel for this trailer though, as there are some things they did to specifically avoid spoiling aspects of the film (seriously, major spoilers here!). They trailer scene that reveals the Hulk is different to the movie scene, in terms of dialogue, partly so it fits the narrative of the trailer but it does have this secondary effect. They also did a brilliant job of hiding the fact that (SPOILER) Thor loses an eye in the film; in the big fight with Hela (the Asgardian Goddess of Death, played by Cate Blanchett) in the trailer, his eye is there, whereas in the actual film it is not there. (Apparently he will be getting his eye back pretty soon though; maybe Nick Fury didn’t want the competition?)
YouTube commenters seem to be leaning towards the anti-spoiler stance, with one applauding themself for not watching the trailer until after they saw the film as it would have spoiled everything. Another claims that watching the trailer after the film gives them a new appreciation for the trailer, possibly as they can now see the easter eggs, foreshadowing, and teasers in a new light.
The fact that Marvel deliberately covered up some of the spoilers suggests that at least this film studio is paying attention to what audiences are saying, so it’ll be interesting to see how upcoming films cover up, skirt around, or deal with potential spoilers, while still creating effective marketing campaigns.
Thanks to James Ayers and Peter Dawes for your contributions to this article. What do you think of spoilers in trailers? Let us know in the comments!
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