Keeping storylines of some of the biggest shows and movies has always been a problem, with leaks and spoilers shared across the internet being a huge issue to negotiate. Few studios have gone to greater lengths to keep their secrets than Disney when it comes to Marvel Studios and LucasFilm releases, and that is somethingEwan McGregorhas been happy to praise. In a recent interview, theObi-Wan Kenobistar has addressed how he believes that leaks destroy the viewing experience of fans.
WhenObi-Wan Kenobipremiered on Disney+ it became the platform’s most viewed original debut, and in general the show managed to keep most of its surprises secret long enough for fans to discover them when they watched each new episode, including the surprise appearance byLiam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinnin the series finale. When appearing at the Fan Expo Boston, as reported byComicbook.com, McGregor spoke about how it is “disheartening” to see leaks being spread over the internet ahead of episode premieres and was full of praise for Disney’s efforts to retain secrecy. He said:
“That’s the beautiful thing about how passionate Disney, Lucasfilm, all of us are, who are involved with it is from the beginning is we try really hard not to let anything out of the bag just to protect your experience of seeing it for the first time. I think it’s really cool that Disney and Lucasfilm care so much for the fan experience. They really want you to have a 100% experience the first time you see it, and if you’ve read that, and that leaked, and this came out, it’s just a bit of a shame isn’t it? It’s like looking at your Christmas presents before Christmas Day.”
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Spoilers Have Become Inevitable Thanks to Social Media
Long ago, and not so far away, a movie could be in cinemas for weeks and even months without its twists being revealed. Ironically, one of the biggest movie twists of its time wasStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Backand many were able to enjoy the film without being aware of Darth Vader’s confession that he is Luke Skywalker’s father for months after the initial theatrical release. In contrast, whenObi-Wan Kenobi’sfirst episode premiered the news of Princess Leia’s key role in the story took only hours to be spread across social media and became very hard to avoid.
Over the last several years, studios have taken to trying a variety of ways to stop leaks and spoilers, from creating fake trailers, to having cast plead with audiences not to share details about movies and spoil it for others. However, the sad truth is that unless fans are quick to get into the first screenings of a movie or binge on a series as soon as it debuts, then there is every likelihood that they will read something online before they have the chance to watch it first-hand, and even then, set photos could have already given the game away on some big name appearances and character cameos.
