Marvel's Secret Invasion slammed by fans for 'new low' AI use

The first episode of Marvel’s highly anticipated Disney+ series Secret Invasion is finally out, but many fans have been expressing their anger and disappointment over its use of AI-generated images.

In case you were unfamiliar, the series stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who learns about a group of Skrulls attempting to take over Earth using their shapeshifting abilities. It sounds like there’ll be a whole load of ‘trust no one not even yourself’ vibes, and this is apparently what fuelled Marvel’s decision to utilise AI for the show’s opening sequence, which consists of uncanny images of people who don't look quite right.

Take a look at the trailer for Secret Invasion below.

“When we reached out to the AI vendors, that was part of it - it just came right out of the shape-shifting Skrull world identity, you know? ‘Who did this? Who is this?’” Secret Invasion director and executive producer Ali Selim told Polygon in an interview. “We would talk to them about ideas and themes and words, and then the computer would go off and do something. And then we could change it a little bit by using words, and it would change.”

Despite Marvel being open about its use of AI and the thematic reasons for its utilisation, many viewers still aren’t happy. Many have been criticising it due to its potential implications for real artists, and some think that it simply looks bad.

“This is a new low for Marvel because [what the f**k]? Who cares if it fits the story? It's still cheap as heck. VFX artists deserve better,” @wilflucas tweeted. “Really hate this new thing of AI dominating everything, including the film industry,” @Lokhart117 wrote. “Marvel makes it so hard to be a fan sometimes,” added @chrrisis.

Secret Invasion’s first episode is available to view now on Disney+. The next five episodes will release weekly, with the finale set to air on 26 July.