After the demise of the r/MarvelStudioSpoilers subreddit, some DCU fans are wondering if James Gunn will follow suit and force the DCU equivalent r/DCEULeaks to similarly shut down.
Earlier this month, Disney began legal proceedings to uncover the identity of Reddit user u/MSSmods after the entirety of the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania script was leaked a month before the film’s release. Disney filed a subpoena request citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) with both Reddit and Google, as the leak was allegedly shared via Google Docs. The Reddit account shared a post lamenting the shutdown and explaining how the subreddit came to be. As of writing, the post and the entire subreddit have been deleted (you can read the deleted post in its entirety here).
“Eventually, I was able to get some reliable/responsible help for a page that was never meant to be a serious thing. It grew and grew…now it has grown so large that people from the MCU know of it. Sadly, this means Disney also knows of it. The Mouse always wins…a lesson I learned from South Park.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now one of Marvel’s lowest-rated movies on review aggregation sites like Rotten Tomatoes and while still making a profit, it underperformed for Marvel standards. Disney alleges the leaks may have affected Quantumania‘s performance (though critics believe the movie just isn’t good) and is doubling down on preventing future leaks by taking legal action against the most egregious leakers.
Like Marvel, the DCU falls victim to leaks and spoilers on a regular basis and, like Marvel, there’s an online community solely dedicated to sharing leaks. The Twitter account @DCEULeaks and its corresponding subreddit often share information (both fake and true) about upcoming DC projects before officially released. Unlike Kevin Feige, it doesn’t seem DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn takes the same strict approach to spoilers; instead, Gunn often tackles rumors head-on, using his personal Twitter to debunk fake leaks. While the approach does seem to help Gunn build rapport with DC die-hards, if he stays quiet about a circulating rumor, many fans take that as a de facto confirmation the rumor is true.
Gunn and Peter Safran have their hands full with revamping the DCU and pressure is mounting to prove the change in direction is actually beneficial. It’s possible the high stakes could spur Gunn to fight back against leakers, especially if his upcoming slate of DCU projects does poorly.
On the other hand, allowing speculation and the occasional information leak can be a way to drum up anticipation for upcoming releases. In the past, even Marvel has used leaks to their advantage as a promotional tactic. Whether DC takes legal action against leakers will likely depend on the success of their future projects; if Gunn’s DCU does well, there’s not really any incentive to enter a big legal battle against leaks that help more than they harm. The smartest approach now would be for DC and Gunn to wait and see how Disney’s subpoenas play out before they decide to do anything about their own spoiler community.