Sadie Sink's Spider-Man: Brand New Day Role Proves Marvel's Spoiler Culture Is Just Plain Stupid

In case you didn't read the headline closely: Spoilers for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" follow.

Several days ago at the "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" premiere, singer Steve Lacy was interviewed on the red carpet. Upon being asked who his favorite character was in the film, he launched into a sincere and thoughtful answer: "You know what? Jean. I like Jean. She's the villain but there's a reason to her madness." Lacy didn't seem to register the deer-in-headlights look on the face of the woman interviewing him, who had asked Lacy to answer "without spoiling anything." Instead, Lacy didn't seem to realize that he was committing a gaffe in his response. He was matter-of-factly talking about the film like any average person would if they'd been asked the same question.

Of course, Lacy is a celebrity tangentially involved with the film, and "Brand New Day" isn't just any movie. It's the latest entry in both the "Spider-Man" franchise starring Tom Holland and the ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. During its heyday, the MCU became infamous for building a culture of no spoilers around itself, the better to preserve surprises like post-credit scenes and cameo appearances. While the MCU is far from the first or only franchise to be protective of its secrets, a combination of hype, a rabid fanbase, and the rise of extreme spoiler-aversion has now metastasized to the point of encompassing the entirety of a movie or show. Jokes about MCU guru Kevin Feige having it out for Lacy because of his comments are proof enough that things have gone too far. The presence of Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) and her antagonistic role in "Brand New Day" shouldn't be treated as a secret. Marvel's spoiler culture is out of control, and this film proves that turning basic-level plot points into mystery box "surprises" needs to stop.

The popularity of the "twist movie" of the '90s and '00s mutated into something which writer/producer/director J.J. Abrams dubbed "the mystery box," which by and large are high-concept films or shows where large swathes of information are kept secret from the audience for a good chunk of time. While there are many mystery box films and shows that work, there are also several that prove the approach has its problems. Abrams' 2013 sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness" is one of the latter, as the film treated the reveal of its main villain's identity as a major twist late in the movie. The fact that the villain was one of the most well-known and popular characters in "Star Trek" meant that his identity was too easy to guess, leading to a marketing campaign and press tour which vociferously denied the twist, and only made it more obvious as a result.

When the press tour for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" became similarly secretive around who Sadie Sink was playing, it was easy to fear that we were in for "Into Darkness" all over again. Fortunately, the film itself hardly treats Sink's Jean as a Khan figure of mystery. To be sure, the film's first act and part of the second involves Spider-Man investigating this girl with telepathic powers, but the mystery is more centered around what she's up to rather than who she is. In contrast to thudding name drop reveal moment seen in "Into Darkness," Jean's identity is revealed casually as part of the movie's story, no hold for cheers or applause or anything. Director Destin Daniel Cretton and company keep the focus on character and story rather than gimmicks, and it makes the film so much better for it.

While "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" itself handles Jean Grey with aplomb, the marketing and press tour have told a very different story. The reaction by many fans to Steve Lacy's red carpet comment was, to put it mildly, not chill. While they may have been right to be so up in arms if Lacy had spoiled, say, the ending of "Avengers: Infinity War," it feels overblown when applied to "Brand New Day." 

I fully understand the joy that comes with getting to see a new movie completely cold for the first time, and my job often (but not always) gives me the privilege of doing so. Yet, as my old film studies college professor used to say, any movie worth its salt cannot be spoiled, and any story ruined by a spoiler was never that good to begin with. "Brand New Day" is genuinely good, and that can be seen in the myriad of ways the film tells a story that has depth beyond a mere character appearance.

Still, it's not hard to see how Marvel ended up here, given how too many of its recent films and shows have been over-reliant on cameos instead of quality. It makes sense that the studio would want to hype its way to a big opening weekend box office by creating a bogeyman made out of spoilers. Yet there's something undeniably lazy about having a movie as good as "Brand New Day" and promoting it with secrecy when the narrative hook (Jean Grey is the antagonist!) is more than enough to draw attention. Hopefully the response to "Brand New Day" will help the MCU braintrust realize that a spoiler is temporary, but a quality movie is forever.