Spoilers for Deadpool 3
Generally, I don’t get bent out of shape about spoilers—we all know how Romeo and Juliet ends, yet it remains one of the most enduring stories in the English language—but this trend of entertainment industry trades spoiling cameos in upcoming films has GOT to stop. Let people be surprised for f-ck’s sake! First it was The Wrap spoiling Dwayne Johnson’s return to the #Family in Fast X, now it’s The Hollywood Reporter spilling the beans that Jennifer Garner will reprise her role as Elektra in Deadpool 3.
“Multiple sources” told THR reporters that Garner, who previously played Elektra in 2003’s Daredevil and 2005’s Elektra, both disappointments, will appear in the film, and instead of just keeping that sh-t to themselves and letting people enjoy the reveal in the moment, they turned it into clickbait. Look, digital media is a disaster right now, but I really, truly, sincerely believe that ruining surprises for film audiences is NOT a sound long-term strategy. Nobody likes a killjoy.
Also, the THR article posits that Deadpool 3 will be the first Marvel Studios film to utilize characters previously seen in Fox’s run of Marvel movies, but Patrick Stewart appeared as Professor X in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness last year, so that’s not true. This doesn’t count as a spoiler anymore, since that movie is over a year old. Deadpool 3, meanwhile, won’t be out till next summer.
And no, this is not the same thing as Ryan Reynolds cheekily announcing online that Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. Jackman is a full-blown co-star in the film, there would be zero possibility of keeping his involvement in the film under wraps. But Garner? Yeah, they could have kept that secret. And it would have been fun to see her corseted up once again as Elektra, for as un-beloved as that film is, no one blames Garner herself for it. Much like Halle Berry and Catwoman, audiences are not dumb, they recognize a bad film when they see it. Garner was the star, sure, but the movie around her massively sucked and one actor, no matter how talented, cannot save a disaster film by herself. There will undoubtedly be genuine fan affection for Garner reprising the role. It would have been nice to experience that pure surprise in the moment next year, but oh well. The clicks must be baited.
Here is Jennifer Garner out and about with her daughter, Violet Affleck, yesterday.
