It’s all fun and games to speculate about an “Avengers” movie or a “Star Wars” movie months and months before those films hit theaters, but when you’re less than two months away from an actual release, less is certainly more. And now, after the release of the epic final trailer for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” certain new photographs have been circulating around the less-than-scrupulous parts of the internet and they totally spoil a big twist at the end of the film.
I’m just going to give it to you straight: I have seen these photos. I wish I had not. I know now something that is going to happen in the film, which is really f*cking cool, but that I wish I could have experienced in the theater. This is not the same as reading a plot leak on Reddit. I saw two photos that were really amazing, and there’s every reason to believe they are real. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THESE PHOTOS. TRUST ME.
So, just like when footage leaked from “Avengers: Endgame,” now is the time to get into Star Wars lockdown mode. Here’s my guide for avoiding this stuff.
- Don’t Google “Star Wars spoilers” or “Star Wars Leaks”
- Avoid articles that mention “leaked photos” from The Rise of Skywalker.
- Stay off Reddit
- No really, stay off Reddit
- Stay off publications that are less than reputable.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Final Trailer
What do I mean about that last one? Well, as someone who has written about Star Wars for a long time, I can tell you that websites like Entertainment Weekly, Inverse, Vulture, and Den of Geek, are not going to post these leaked photos. That’s because, like Fatherly, there are real journalists working there. (Full disclosure, I’ve worked for more than half of those publications.) So, if you’re seeing an article about “The Rise of Skywalker” on some website you’ve never heard of, and it’s promising to tell you all the secrets of the movie, don’t click! Or, you know, click if you want, but be ready to have the movie spoiled for you. Stick to the publications you’ve heard of. They will play by the rules!
Let me tell you a little story to further reinforce why this is important. Back in 2002, I was about to turn 21-years-old, and “Attack of the Clones” was about to hit theaters that May. I was working at a bookstore called Brentano’s (they were briefly part of Waldenbooks, which at that time was part of Borders.) Well, guess what, we got all the “Attack of the Clones” books in early, and that meant, sitting in the stock room of the bookstore, behind closed doors, I was able to 100 percent know that Yoda fought with a lightsaber in the final moments of the movie. This literally ruined one of the biggest surprises of the movie for me. I’m still not over it. Let 21-year-old-me be a lesson to you all.
Because now, as a 38-year-old man, I have clearly not learned my lesson. Don’t make the same mistake. Hardcore spoilers are the path to the Dark Side. Resist!
This article originally appeared on Fatherly. Follow @FatherlyHQ on Twitter.