Ultimate Spoiler Man
When Marvel announced that they were introducing a new Ultimate Spider-Man, they put out an ad which, it turns out, is a major spoiler for an issue that has yet to be released. Why?
The ad shows the new Spider-Man at a press conference, unmasking and introducing himself as Miles Morales. The caption is "Who is Miles Morales?"
Jump forward a year or so, and we have most of Miles's origin story. Bitten by the spider, learning about his powers, facing supervillains, facing Peter Parker's friends and allies, etc. All well and good.
But the focus is on Miles himself. His private life, his family, his decisions. His parents don't approve of costumed superheroes. One of his roommates knows his secret identity, but the other doesn't, and that's creating some tension. His uncle, who is a supervillain, is trying to blackmail Miles (with the threat of exposing his secret identity) into helping him build and defend a criminal empire. Miles keeps debating the idea of telling his parents, but he's scared and his uncle keeps getting in the way. This has been the major plot thread for the last 12 issues. Tensions caused by Miles having a secret identity and trying to figure out how to make it work and what matters to him.
Except there is no tension for anyone who saw the ad months before issue 1 even came out. For the last 12 issues, we've been building up to this major climactic decision. A decision which still hasn't happened and probably won't for another few issues. But we know what it is because Marvel spoiled it in an ad for the series. By the time all is said and done, it'll probably be two years between the ad having been published and the scene depicted in the ad actually hitting the comic book shelves.
Comic book spoilers on the internet are nothing new. Heck, people complaining about the prevalence of comic book spoilers on the internet has gotten old. I do my best to avoid them. But this isn't just some leak or fan rumor. This is Marvel spoiling a plan two years in the making by highlighting the dramatic climax in an ad.
Why?
The ad shows the new Spider-Man at a press conference, unmasking and introducing himself as Miles Morales. The caption is "Who is Miles Morales?"
Jump forward a year or so, and we have most of Miles's origin story. Bitten by the spider, learning about his powers, facing supervillains, facing Peter Parker's friends and allies, etc. All well and good.
But the focus is on Miles himself. His private life, his family, his decisions. His parents don't approve of costumed superheroes. One of his roommates knows his secret identity, but the other doesn't, and that's creating some tension. His uncle, who is a supervillain, is trying to blackmail Miles (with the threat of exposing his secret identity) into helping him build and defend a criminal empire. Miles keeps debating the idea of telling his parents, but he's scared and his uncle keeps getting in the way. This has been the major plot thread for the last 12 issues. Tensions caused by Miles having a secret identity and trying to figure out how to make it work and what matters to him.
Except there is no tension for anyone who saw the ad months before issue 1 even came out. For the last 12 issues, we've been building up to this major climactic decision. A decision which still hasn't happened and probably won't for another few issues. But we know what it is because Marvel spoiled it in an ad for the series. By the time all is said and done, it'll probably be two years between the ad having been published and the scene depicted in the ad actually hitting the comic book shelves.
Comic book spoilers on the internet are nothing new. Heck, people complaining about the prevalence of comic book spoilers on the internet has gotten old. I do my best to avoid them. But this isn't just some leak or fan rumor. This is Marvel spoiling a plan two years in the making by highlighting the dramatic climax in an ad.
Why?