This post contains spoilers for Wonder Woman.
A reminder that nowhere on the internet is truly spoiler-free: The Google search results for Wonder Woman, in theaters today, ruin the movie’s major twist by spoiling the secret identity of Ares, the Greek god of war, whom Diana of Themyscira (aka Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman) considers to be her people’s ultimate enemy. For much of the movie, she, and we, believe Ares to be Danny Huston’s Ludendorff, a bellicose German general intent on scuttling the pending World War I armistice with a massive, unsanctioned chemical attack. But—surprise!—it’s revealed that Ares has been masquerading as David Thewlis’ Sir Patrick Morgan, a British war council member who has been openly pushing for the armistice but apparently undermining it in secret. (He’s also, to judge by the glimpse of his muscled bare chest, been putting in some serious gym time in between Parliamentary throwdowns.) As the embodiment of war itself, he’s the movie’s true villain, and it’s a good twist.
A handful of outlets had already reported on Thewlis’ identity before the movie’s release, but Warner Bros. has kept a pretty tight lid on the antagonist’s identity. If you innocently Googled “Wonder Woman” in search of theater showtimes, though, you’ve probably already stumbled across that secret, although you might not have realized its significance. In the search results, Thewlis is listed in the sidebar featuring the movie’s cast, as he should be, but he’s credited as Ares instead of Morgan, effectively ruining the surprise. Searching “Wonder Woman cast” brings the same perils, except this time, Thewlis’ secret identity is right at the top.
Screenshot via Google
Wikipedia, where Google pulls a lot of its movie information from, isn’t safe from spoilers either, also listing Thewlis as Ares. (IMDb, on the other hand, credits him as “Sir Patrick.”) Should search engines do more to preserve the mystery? That’s a question for another time, but until then, this has been a public service announcement: Always Google responsibly before heading to the theater.
