Pranks and pleas: How 'Westworld' and 'Avengers' deal with spoilers

On Monday afternoon, “Westworld” showrunners Jonathan Nolan (a former Barrington resident) and Lisa Joy promised fans in a Reddit forum that a video spoiling all of the HBO sci-fi hit's second season's twists would be released to the web. “If you guys agree, we're going to post a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2,” they said.

Why would they do this? “That way the members of the community here who want the season spoiled for them can watch ahead, and then protect the rest of the community, and help to distinguish between what's ‘theory' and what's spoiler.”

If you think that sounds fishy, you're right; the video that was posted later that night to YouTube turned out to be a prank. In the spirit of the show's Wild West theme park, where modern rock songs get the piano-and-strings treatment courtesy of composer Ramin Djawadi, a short description of the Season 2 premiere's opening scene gave way to the show's star, Evan Rachel Wood, singing Rick Astley's “Never Gonna Give You Up” with fellow actress Angela Sarafyan on the keys.

Yep, we got Rickrolled by Dolores and Clementine.

“Westworld” returns to HBO on Sunday, April 22. Until then, you can hear Djawadi's reimagining of Nirvana's “Heart-Shaped Box” on Spotify, or as the backdrop for the latest trailer.

This “Westworld” prank comes about a year ahead of HBO's final season of “Game of Thrones,” which runs the risk of being the most-spoiled entertainment property of all time. Last season's entire plotline appeared in an online forum ahead of the premiere, and those of us who dared to read the offending posts discovered, week after week, that the leaks were 100 percent true.

This past week, “Thrones” assistant director Jonathan Quinlan posted a thank-you note from the show's producers on Instagram that slipped in this bit of information: Production recently wrapped on a battle scene that took 55 nights to shoot. This was deemed too much of a spoiler by the powers that be, apparently, because the post was deleted soon after it spread like wildfire on Twitter. In February, TV Guide got in on the spoiler action — a strange move by a mainstream, mass-market publication — with a story I won't reveal here.

What are filmmakers to do when even TV Guide is joining the internet ne'er-do-wells in trying to spoil your show?

The directors of the film “Avengers: Infinity War,” which opens worldwide on April 27, posted a letter on their Twitter account outright pleading with fans to keep their mouths shut.

“We're asking that when you see ‘Infinity War,' in the coming months, that you maintain ... secrecy so that all fans can have an equal experience when they watch it for the first time,” wrote Joe and Anthony Russo. “Don't spoil it for others, the same way you wouldn't want it spoiled for you.”

The plea has fallen on deaf ears over at Reddit, where a Marvel Studios spoiler thread overflows with information (some of it credible, some not) about the superhero epic that brings all of the franchise's heroes together in one movie.

The truth is that filmmakers and film studios can't really do anything about spoilers. There will always be fanboys like me who simply can't help themselves, and there will always be social media users and clickbait websites who want to cater to those fanboys.

So that puts the onus on you, the content consumer who wishes to remain pure. Mute those hashtags and keywords. Be careful where you click. Try to watch the Next Big Thing as soon as you can.

But most of all, remember that no plot spoiler — no matter how massive or twisty — can ruin a piece of entertainment that's truly good.

Still catching up?

The last two home-video holdouts from this year's field of nine Best Picture Oscar nominees are now available across all digital platforms. As of Tuesday, April 17, both can be had on DVD and Blu-ray as well.

Paul Thomas Anderson's “Phantom Thread” has a no-frills digital release, and the Blu-ray has a scant few extras. Perhaps it's better if less is said about this enigmatic film; Anderson's films are not passive experiences. If you can decipher the skewed romance between an obtuse fashion designer (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his modeling muse (Vicky Krieps), you'll be richly rewarded by Mark Bridges' Oscar-winning costumes and Jonny Greenwood's lush piano melodies.

Steven Spielberg's “The Post” comes packaged with five featurettes, including one with John Williams, who proved in this docudrama about the Washington Post and the Pentagon Papers that his change-up is as potent as his “Star Wars” fastball. If you've had Meryl Streep fatigue for, oh, the last 20 years, her portrayal of Post publisher Katharine Graham will once again make you a believer.

• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.