Marvel catches Flak for the AI-generated opening sequence of its new ‘Secret Invasion’ series

As the Hollywood writers strike passes the 50-day mark, Marvel delivered a timely, if unwelcome, example of one of its core grievances: the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in the American film industry.

News that the opening credits for the Disney+ miniseries Secret Invasionwhich debuted on June 21, had been created using AI, which caused strong reactions on social media and even in the production world itself.

Early viewers had been worried about the show’s two-minute intro sequence in which the show’s humans, aliens, and locations morph together. Turns out AI was used in its making, a fact confirmed by the show’s director Ali Salim in an interview with Polygon.

The series, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, is about a shapeshifting alien race, the Skrulls, who invade Earth. Marvel’s decision to deploy the AI ​​in its opening seems to have been a playful attempt to mirror the plot.

“When we reached out to the AI ​​vendors, that was part of it,” Salim said. “It comes straight out of the shape-shifting Skrull world identity, you know? Who did this? Who is this?”

The credits were created by Method Studios, who developed the credits for Marvel’s 2021 Eternals and also worked on Loki And Moon Knight series. Salim said that although he doesn’t understand how AI image generators work, he wanted the footage to be “exciting and different”.

THE Secret Invasion The controversy comes at a time of peak anxiety for workers across a range of creative industries regarding the potential for AI to devalue and steal their job. This feeling was captured by a tweet from Jeff Simpson, a visual development conceptual artist. “Secret Invasion the intro is AI generated,” he wrote. “I’m devastated, I think AI is unethical, dangerous, and designed only to kill artists’ careers.”

This isn’t the first time in recent memory that Marvel has come under fire for its treatment of off-screen creations. Last year there was widespread reports that Marvel has cultivated toxic relationships with many of the visual effects houses it works with.

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