Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | How to avoid spoilers
There's a few handy tips that can save you from being exposed to unwanted plot details...
Some fans have waited for more than four decades for the Skywalker saga to reach its conclusion, and so the prospect of having the ending spoiled for them is just about the worst scenario imaginable.
Thankfully, then, there are a couple of precautions you can take to ensure that you don’t find yourself on the receiving end of a spoiler or two – although even after taking these steps, it’s best to be cautious when browsing the internet until you have seen the film.
Changing Twitter settings
It’s probably safe to say that the place you’re most likely to be exposed to spoilers is on Twitter – with the social media site a hotbed for people wanting to get their hot takes out into the public domain as soon as they’ve seen something, often at the expense of those yet to see it.
However, Twitter has an important function which can make it far less likely for you to stumble upon unwanted details of the film’s plot – the muted words feature.
In order to access this, simply go to your Privacy and Safety settings, select Muted and then Muted Words, and enter in as many words as possible, which Twitter will then filter out of your feed. So you can enter hashtags, character names, and the name of the films itself, and any tweets containing these words or phrases will no longer appear – at least until you change your settings after watching the film.
Internet Browser add-ons
Of course, it’s not just Twitter where you’re likely to come across spoilers, and you might accidentally find yourself exposed to information while browsing the internet. This is where add-ons can come in – with Spoiler Protection 2.0 a particularly handy tool that is compatible with both Chrome and Firefox.
Much like with muted words on Twitter, the add-on allows you to enter any number of words or phrases into a ”Spoilers” box, and any mention of those words or phrases will then be redacted on any and all web pages that you visit. It's worth noting that there can be some side effects of this add-on - including limited functionality when it comes th showing photos and videos, but some things are worth that sacrifice.
Of course, neither of these methods are absolutely guaranteed to ensure you don’t catch any unwanted spoilers – unfortunately there’s no add-on to stop you overhearing excited fans loudly talking about the plot on public transport and in cinema lobbies, but hey, it’s a start!
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
