Marvel's Security Team Has Intentionally Misdirected Spy Photographers, According To Ms. Marvel Star
It's a problem that has plagued many a major blockbuster production over the years: How do you make the best film possible, using a combination of painstakingly crafted interior sets and on-location shooting, all while preserving the major spoilers against armies of paparazzi, curious locals, and overeager fans all rushing to snap the perfect set photo? Unsurprisingly, those photos usually end up making the rounds on social media — despite the best efforts of studios like Disney, which tend to serve DMCA takedown notices (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) on circulating leaked footage as much as they can — and make it easier for the diehards to put the spoilery puzzle pieces together for what an upcoming film may have in store.
We see this often with Marvel Studios productions, most recently (and most blatantly) during filming of "Avengers: Endgame," which led to the widespread knowledge that the Avengers would somehow end up traveling back to the climactic events of "The Avengers" from 2012. Although the culture that has sprung up around spoiler-phobia might be treated way too seriously these days, there is something to be said for finding out about key plot points and sequences in the most anticlimactic way possible.
"Ms. Marvel" star Iman Vellani knows all about that struggle, especially since her own costume as Kamala Khan was seen online ahead of the show's debut thanks to unauthorized set photos. There may not be any foolproof way to avoid this problem entirely, but Vellani spilled some intriguing details about the lengths that Marvel goes to in order to mitigate things.
Marvelous misdirection
Think about the sheer amount of resources that Marvel has at its disposal to combat the pervasive threat of spoilers. They can call upon legions of hard-nosed lawyers to enforce their bidding, they've shackled countless actors to restrictive non-disclosure agreements, and, of course, there are those mythical "Marvel snipers" just waiting to put the pressure on loudmouths like Tom Holland or Mark Ruffalo, when necessary. But they apparently have one other trick in their playbook, a "Break glass in case of emergency" countermeasure when the situation really calls for it.
In a recent AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, Iman Vellani celebrated the season 1 finale of "Ms. Marvel" by nerding out with a whole bunch of fellow superhero fans on the Marvel Studios subreddit. Showcasing all the same wit and charm that has made the actor such an instant fan-favorite, Vellani answered several of the most pressing questions that viewers had for her. One such answer revealed that Marvel has a habit of intentionally planting false props to throw onlookers off the scent.
"...I saw that BARF case set photo leak which turned out to be a total misdirection from Marvel security. They literally planted that! And I now have so much respect for marvels security team."
The "case" she mentions refers to a certain prop on the set of "Avengers: Endgame" that suggested the Binary Augmented Retro Framing tech invented by Tony Stark in "Captain America: Civil War" would explain how the superheroes revisit the events of "The Avengers," basically making it a virtual reality simulation. Suspected of being a plot even back then, Vellani outright confirms that to be the case and has made it impossible to trust our own eyes from now on whenever the next set photo leaks. Well-played, Marvel, well-played.