With Avengers: Endgame, the final installment of the Avengers series, released over the weekend, those who could not see it are frantically trying to avoid the cursed spoilers.

While it is entirely reasonable to want to be surprised by a long-awaited movie, this spoiler paranoia ruins the movie experience, as well as the quality of the movie itself.

Actor Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man in the movie, said in an interview that he did not even receive a script for the movie, only his own lines. Holland is known for releasing major spoilers before the release dates of previous movies.

Several of Holland’s co-stars, such as Brie Larson, who plays Captain Marvel, have mentioned similar experiences during filming.

However, this lack of trust in the actors impacts the quality of the movie. For actors to give their best possible performance, they must understand the context of their lines.

The spoiler paranoia is not new to Marvel’s newest release, but Endgame does take it to the extreme.

A fan in Hong Kong beat up another fan for spoiling the end of the movie. Trying to avoid hearing spoilers before seeing a film or giving away spoilers after seeing it is a reasonable reaction, but for people to fear for their safety if they slip up takes it too far.

Going to great lengths to avoid spoilers also ruins the movie experience. Many are staying off social media or avoiding talking to friends who have already seen it in order to avoid spoilers. Avoiding things one enjoys is a precaution that takes the spoiler paranoia too far.

Doing everything one can to avoid spoilers is a relatively new phenomenon in culture. When the original Star Wars movies were released, social media did not have the cultural prevalence it has today, and spoilers were not a big deal. It was possible for someone to enter the movie knowing a major twist and still enjoy it.

If someone feels as though they cannot enjoy a movie unless they see it without any spoilers, the quality of the movie isn’t as high as it should be. It’s fine to want to see a movie from a series one loves without knowing anything beforehand, but it shouldn’t be the only thing one considers before seeing a movie.

And as someone who hasn’t seen Endgame yet, don’t spoil it for me.