Entertainment

Mark Ruffalo Spoiled 'Infinity War' A Year Ago & You'll Be Kicking Yourself For Missing It

by Tolly Wright

When audiences saw the latest blockbuster Marvel superhero epic opening weekend, many left absolutely shocked by the movie's ending. Yet, according to Screen Rant, Mark Ruffalo spoiled the Avengers: Infinity War ending nearly a year before its release — and it happened on national television. This wasn't the first time Ruffalo accidentally spoiled one of his Marvel movies either. But because the three time Oscar-nominated actor was able to play off his answer as a joke, barely anyone took notice of his blaring reveal. Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Infinity War.

Ruffalo (a.k.a. Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk) and his superhero colleague Don Cheadle (who plays War Machine) had an interview on Good Morning America ahead of Disney's biennial D23 Expo during the summer of 2017. Ruffalo was there to mostly promote Thor: Ragnarok, which his character played a pivotal part in. While talking about the nature of Marvel movies — how they often don't have the happiest of endings for the superheroes — he let slip the very, very unhappy end to the latest Avengers movie.

Early in the interview, a journalist asked Ruffalo if he and Thor would succeed in saving Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok (the interview took place a few months before that movie's release). Ruffalo asked Cheadle if he could give them "just a taste" of the ending, to which Cheadle replied, "I wouldn’t say too much, but hey, it’s your career." Ruffalo, bless him, did not take this sage advice.

Ruffalo gave this taste of the third Thor installment: “Let me just say this, like every other Marvel movie, it doesn’t end well for the super heroes." The interviewer agreed, "That’s true in Marvel, it doesn’t end that well. Someone always bites it or gets really badly hurt."

To which Ruffalo, feeling clever and definitely not thinking about Marvel's love of secrecy, replied, "Wait until you see this next one. Everybody dies." He added, "Well, half."

Right after he let the words slip out of his mouth, he had the unmistakable look of someone who was going to be in trouble. If he wasn't sure that he messed up, Cheadle made it clear as he let out an exasperated, "Dude!"

Cheadle and Ruffalo were able to play it off as if maybe the Hulk was just joking. Ruffalo asked sheepishly if he was in trouble, while Cheadle scolded him in a way that could have been a silly overreaction to a fake spoiler.

It was definitely easier to cover-up this slip than when Ruffalo accidentally shared audio from the world premiere of Thor: Ragnarok. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he forgot to turn off his Instagram Live as the movie began playing. Oops.

Still, for comic book fans, Ruffalo's accidental reveal would have only confirmed what they long suspected. Per Polygon, readers of Infinity Gauntlet the six-issue miniseries that has many similar plot points as Infinity War knew that Thanos would use the infinity gems to kill half the universe. Sure, in the comics he does it to win the heart of Mistress Death (who doesn't appear in the movie), but regardless of the super villain's motivation, it's the action that sets off the rest of the events in the dark series.

It's unclear how true to the comic books going forward Marvel will be. Infinity War ends with all hope seeming lost, but the fourth Avengers film is set to be released next year. Since Hulk and War Machine both made it out of the movie alive — unlike many of their fellow heroes — fans might just get another spoiler moment again. Expect everyone to be watching Ruffalo's interviews and social media posts very carefully in the next several months.