Following its premiere on Disney+ this week, it has emerged that Marvel’s latest series, Secret Invasion, used generative AI to create it’s opening credits.

While given the climate of AI experimentation (or, encroachment, given your philosophy) means that more AI offerings are making their way into creative endeavours, this serves as perhaps one of the most high-profile examples – with regards to pop culture – thus far.

Gallingly for many fans, it comes against a backdrop of Hollywood’s writers striking, not least to ensure their work is safeguarded from advances in AI.

Once it emerged that show director Ali Selim purposefully reached out to AI vendors for it, the backlash was fairly immediate, with artists and creators lining up to chastise the opening.

Many cited the irony of Marvel having a plethora of artists available, such as Kagan McLeod, the artist who provided the She-Hulk outro paintings, and David Mack, who created the Winter Solider ending credits back in 2014.

Method Studios, the producer of the credits, has worked with Marvel in the past with such shows as Moon Knight and Loki, and addressed concerns after the show debuted.

“AI is just one tool among the array of tool sets our artists used. No artists’ jobs were replaced by incorporating these new tools; instead, they complemented and assisted our creative teams,” reads a statement from Method to The Hollywood Reporter, saying it was still all in-house.

The statement added: “Working on Secret Invasion, a captivating show exploring the infiltration of aliens into human society, provided an exceptional opportunity to delve into the intriguing realm of AI, specifically for creating unique character attributes and movements,” they continued.

“Utilising a custom AI tool for this particular element perfectly aligned with the project’s overall theme and the desired aesthetic.”

In case anyone was curious, the people responsible for the AI intro to Secret Invasion called their work a "milestone" and "groundbreaking".

Then they deleted their post on IG about it. How groundbreaking is it if you have to disassociate from it. pic.twitter.com/YLPFj0HzXZ

— Reid Southen (@Rahll) June 21, 2023

In a now-deleted Instagram post, artists involved with the production called it “groundbreaking” and how it was an “honor to be part of this journey.” The same artist, going by Sagans, has a large body of Stable Diffusion work.

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The statement concluded with more reassurance of their process. “Method Studios’ team of designers skillfully leveraged the power of both existing and custom AI technologies to apply the otherworldly and alien look.

“The entire process, guided by expert art direction, encompassed the initial storyboard phase, illustration, AI generation, 2D/3D animation, and culminated in the final compositing stage.”