Earlier this week, we learned that Marvel Studios had decided to crack down on internet leaks, and had filed legal documents seeking a subpoena in an attempt to identify the individual or individuals who shared Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania plot details to Reddit.
Now, THR reports that Marvel is "closing in on the source" of the leak, and fully intends to take legal action.
A federal judge in California has issued subpoenas to Reddit and Google, directing them to identify the users who leaked the dialogue. This action follows Marvel's attempt to discover who posted the information to the popular r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit, which is now locked.
Disney filed a copyright take-down of the leak earlier this month after the 63-page document was shared by u/MSSmods in a post titled "[TFTMQ] Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Detailed Dialog." The thread has since been deleted, but it was archived in Google Docs.
"Reddit is committed to protecting our users' privacy," Reddit wrote in a statement responding to Marvel's application. "We have rigorous processes in place to assess legal requests and object when appropriate."
Insiders believe Marvel/Disney are likely to pursue litigation against the person or group responsible, which could include referral to prosecutors for criminal copyright infringement, among other charges.
Kevin Feige and co. have clearly had it with spoilers for their movies finding their way online weeks - sometimes months - before release. This is perfectly understandable, of course, but it is interesting that they only decided to take action when Quantumania underperformed (similar leaks didn't hurt, and may have actually helped, Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example).