Warning: This list contains major spoilers for several TV shows.
Summary
In the age of socia media and modern advertising,TV shows, or the actors and crew involved with them, sometimes spoil their biggest moments.YouTube and other online platforms mean that more people than ever will see trailers ahead of time, and promos play a precarious role in the viewing experience. However, there are still someTV show plot twists that should never be spoiled, making it shocking that people accidentally or intentionally revealed something before the episode in question was released.
Some actors and crew members maybe didn’t mean to spoil a major moment,but inadvertently revealed in an interview or social media post that something was coming. Others paid no mind to the"spoiler alert"culture and openly talked about what was to come — typically enraging fans. Certain TV shows connote cultural phenomena where everyone panics about spoilers until watching the episode, such as with thesaddest deaths inThe Walking Deador themost brutal and horrific moments inGame of Thrones. However, try as everyone may, people still slip up and ruin the moment for many fans.
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10Mischa Barton Spoiled Marissa’s Death In An Interview
The O.C. (2003-2007)
Mischa Barton infamously spoiled herThe O.C. character Marissa Cooper’s death in an interview withAccess Hollywooda few hours before the season 3 finale aired (viaeonline.com).Marissa had been one of the main characters ofThe O.C.since the beginning,meaning her death would be a major upheaval for both the characters in the show and the real-world fandom outside it. WhileMarissa’s death was a massive turning point forThe O.C., it was not entirely for worse.
Some people believe thatThe O.C.got better after Marissa’s death,as she was a character the writers didn’t seem to know what to do with anymore. However, while it may have improved other characters' storylines, it was still an unfair ending for Marissa. The combination of one of the"core four"characters being killed off and the controversial reveal ahead of time make it a highly contentious moment in TV history.The O.C. only lasted one more season after Marissa’s death.
The O.C.
When troubled teen Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) is taken in by his public defender (Peter Gallagher), he suddenly finds himself on the right side of the tracks. The O.C. follows as Ryan tries his best to fit into the affluent California community while navigating the relentless drama of teen life, but his new home of Newport Beach is a town filled to the brim with secrets and scandal.
9Ian McShane Spoiled The Hound’s Return In An Interview
Game Of Thrones (2011-2019)
Five seasons in, everyone involved should have known to never spoilGame of Thronesif it can be helped. At the end ofGame of Thronesseason 4,the Hound engages in a brutal battle with Brienne of Tarth and is seemingly left to die from his injuries by Arya.After being absent for a season, the Hound reappears when it is revealed that he was found and treated by a new character. Thetrue story behind Ian McShane’sGame of Thronescameoas the Hound’s caretaker Brother Ray is tumultuous, given how McShane handled the fandom’s spoiler-wary culture.
Five seasons in, everyone involved should have known to never spoilGame of Thronesif it can be helped.
In the lead-up to season 6,McShane teased that he was playing a character who would bring back a presumed-dead character,and it didn’t take long for most people to figure out who he was talking about. When fans reacted angrily to the spoiler, McShane was thoroughly unapologetic. When speaking about the reactions toEmpire Magazine(viaEW), McShane said:“And what am I giving away? A character beloved by everybody returns. Get a f*****g life. The show is huge but some fans seem to identify with it [too closely].”
8Rodri Martin Spoiled Pietro’s Return In A Social Media Post
WandaVision (2021)
Rumors were circling about Peter Evans' possible involvement in the MCU ahead of his first official appearance inWandaVision.Evans had previously played Peter/Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver in Fox’sX-Menuniverse,while a different and entire separate version of the character was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the MCU’sAvengers: Age of Ultron. As part of Wanda’s fabricated reality inWandaVision, she"recasts Pietro,“so she may have a brother who didn’t die. As a bit of meta humor and maybe a set-up for a crossover, Peters plays this Pietro as well.
Rodri Martin, who provided the Spanish voice-over for Peters in theX-Menmovies and was set to do the same forWandaVision, posted on social media that he and Quicksilver would be returning as part of the MCU. As this was a violation of his contract with Disney,Martin was fired fromWandaVision(viaThe Direct). This was a harsh reaction on the studio’s part, but it does demonstrate how seriously everyone takes spoilers, especially surrounding the MCU.
WandaVision
WandaVision, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first TV show on Disney+, first aired in 2021. The series kicked off the MCU’s Phase 4 and brought back Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, and Paul Bettany as Vision. WandaVision strayed away from Marvel’s typical formula, this time formatting itself more like a classic sitcom as Wanda struggles to cope with the death of Vision.
7ABC Spoiled Dr. Whale’s Identity In A Trailer
Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)
Half of the fun in the early seasons ofOnce Upon a Timeis figuring out who everyone in Storybrooke is in the parallel fairy tale universe. However,Once Upon a Timeseasons 1 and 2 are very episodic, with each new episode revolving around a specific fairy tale,and tended to advertise themselves that way. Therefore, several promotions over the years gave away or strongly hinted at the characters' fairy tale identities when the audience enjoyed figuring it out for themselves.
A particular example revolves around Storybrooke resident Dr. Whale,whose counterpart is still unconfirmed at the end of season 1. One of the characters even directly asks him who he is at the beginning of season 2, noting the fact that no one knows. The promo ahead of season 2, episode 5, “The Doctor” showcases a new aesthetic and strongly alludes to Whale’s ability to raise the dead, all but confirming that he is Dr. Victor Frankenstein ahead of the episode (viaYouTube).
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon a Time is an adventure fantasy-drama series created for ABC that features fairy tale characters and their Disney incarnations in a modern setting. When Emma Swan and her son Henry accidentally drive into the town of Storybrooke, they soon discover the inhabitants are those from fairy tales, and they have no knowledge of the modern world inhabited by Emma and Henry. Robbed of their pasts and given new identities by the Evil Queen known as Regina, the hope of the town’s residents lie solely in the hands of Emma, who has stronger connections to the town than she knows.
6Bob Odenkirk Spoiled Howard’s Death In A Social Media Post
Better Call Saul (2015-2022)
Months beforeBetter Call Saulseason 6 premiered,Bob Odenkirk Tweeted a picture of himself and Patrick Fabian on set to wish his co-star a happy birthday.However, his followers were quick to notice a red streak in Fabian’s hair and deduced that his character Howard Hamlin would either be seriously injured or killed in the upcoming season (viacomicbook.com). Sure enough, season 6 features a fateful confrontation between Howard, Saul Goodman, and Kim Wexler, which Lalo Salamanca interrupts and kills Howard.
This slip-up was apparently a genuine mistake on Odenkirk’s part,which he explained after Howard’s death episode had aired. To his and AMC’s credit, they did not take the post down after it prompted speculation, which would have confirmed that there was indeed something to hide. Luckily for Odenkirk, it’s not as though they were going to fire the iconic actor associated with the role halfway through the final season.
Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul follows small-time lawyer Jimmy McGill as he navigates the legal world to make ends meet. The series, set six years before his encounter with Walter White, chronicles Jimmy’s evolution into Saul Goodman, with notable interactions alongside fixer Mike Ehrmantraut.
5Stranger Things Season 4 Was Spoiled By A Monopoly Game
Stranger Things (2016-2025)
News outlets started reporting on aMonopoly tie-in game featuring details that spoiledStranger Thingsseason 4 in the weeks before the first half of the season was released.The Duffer brothers reportedly were not consulted about this marketing move, and were just as angry as everyone else when spoilers started to proliferate online (viaTHR). Some images from the game’s cards were said to spoil parts of the upcoming seasons, predictably provoking outrage.
Interestingly, most of the news outlets that covered this event, includingThe Hollywood ReporterandScreen Rant’sstory on theStranger ThingsMonopoly leak, did not say what the actual spoilers were. EvenRedditboards discussing the matter used censorship features to conceal spoilers, allowing people the option to click away the censors before something was spoiled for them. It shows true dedication and a kind of honor code concerning spoilers, becauseeven though everyone knew majorStranger Thingsspoilers had been leaked, they did their part to not ruin it for anyone else.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is a Netflix series set in the 1980s, where the mysterious disappearance of a young boy leads a small town to uncover secret experiments and supernatural forces. A significant focus is on a peculiar girl who may hold the key to the unfolding mystery.
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4The MCU Spoiled Coulson’s Return In A Trailer
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2020)
However, the MCU still potentially missed out on a major TV moment where a plot twist represents the core story coming together.Coulson’s death inThe Avengersis a surprisingly devastating moment;he functioned as a mildly annoying but good-natured supporting character up until this point and is one of the consistencies in all the solo movies before the first crossover event.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.suffered from some other continuity issues over the years, such as the Avengers never finding out that Coulson had survived.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a television series that follows Agent Phil Coulson as he assembles a team within the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division to investigate mysterious phenomena, safeguarding the world from extraordinary threats. Debuting in 2013, the series expands on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s exploration of covert operations.
3Sabrina Impacciatore Spoiled Tanya’s Death In An Interview
The White Lotus (2021-Present)
Some actors feel confident enough to spoil somethingin such a way that it comes across as a joke— such as whenMark Ruffalo spoiledAvengers: Infinity War. However, this is especially risky if it is in an interview with other cast and crew members who aren’t fully prepared to play along. In a promotional video released ahead ofThe White Lotusseason 2, cast members Sabrina Impacciatore, Beatrice Grannò, and Simona Tabasco were asked the surprisingly on-point question of:“Who’s most likely to fall off the edge of a boat?”(viahuffpost.com).
Impacciatore quickly answered Jennifer Coolidge, which was probably intended as a clever"hidden spoiler"as well as making fun of her co-star in a friendly way.Unfortunately, Grannò and Tabasco both momentarily panickedover what Impacciatore had just given away. This advance spoiler of Tanya’s impending death went mostly unnoticed, but people were led back to the interview after the event had taken place on the show.
The White Lotus
The White Lotus is a television series that explores the interactions of guests and staff at an upscale tropical resort. Premiering in 2021, the narrative unfolds over a week, revealing underlying complexities and tensions among the resort’s seemingly ideal travelers and employees.
2Everyone Spoiled Jon Snow’s Resurrection
To be fair,Jon’s impending resurrection being"spoiled"was at least partially due toGames of Thrones’unprecedented popularityand the relentless scrutiny and debates that followed his death in the season 5 finale. Jon being stabbed by angered members of the Night’s Watch famously inspired a flat-out refusal among the fandom to accept his death when several of his storylines were still unresolved. Harrington lied to almost everyone about his return to preserve secrecy, except for the police officer to whom he told the truth to avoid a speeding ticket (viaYouTube).
However, fans were over-analyzing everything the cast and crew said, looking for evidence of Jon’s return. Small details that supported the theory included interviews with other cast members, tie-in merchandising, Harrington and the showrunners strategically avoiding further questioning, and rumors of Harrington being on set (viaBusiness Insider).These things technically did spoil Jon’s resurrection,albeit to an audience that desperately wanted to believe he was coming back.
Game Of Thrones
Cast
Based on George R. R. Martin’s ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama set in the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos. It follows noble families like the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryen vying for control of the Iron Throne while a rising threat from the undead looms in the North. The series received significant critical success and amassed a loyal fan base due to its high production values, sprawling sets, iconic characters, and shocking twists.
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1AMC Spoiled Beth’s Death In A Social Media Post
The Walking Deadinfamously spoiled Beth’s death, technically after the episode had aired but before most of the fanbase had yet to watch it. Since she was introduced inThe Walking Deadseason 2,Beth had become a beloved character, and her death in the mid-season 5 finale was sure to be an emotional moment.Character deaths are their own trope inThe Walking Dead, and everyone takes not spoiling them seriously.
Character deaths are their own trope inThe Walking Dead, and everyone takes not spoiling them seriously.
However, as soon as the episode had aired on the East Coast,The Walking Dead’sofficial Facebook page posted an image of Daryl carrying Beth’s body captioned"RIP Beth.“As everyone on the West Coast and in other countries had yet to see it, her death was stupidly spoiled for them. AMC quickly took down the post and apologized. However, they had learned their lesson the hard way, as other cast and crew members as well as networks have, by spoiling shows in an effort to promote that show.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a television series that premiered on July 29, 2025. It follows Sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. He embarks on a journey to locate his family, encountering various survivors amidst the chaos.
