‘Secret Invasion’s AI Credits Are Part of a Long History of Marvel Undervaluing Artists

If you’ve checked out Secret Invasion on Disney+, which premiered today, you might have been surprised to discover that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series seemingly used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate its opening credits. And in fact, as confirmed in an interview director Ali Salim did with Polygon, the show did indeed use AI-generated art to create its vision of the shape-changing Skrulls morphing into Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury, as well as other members of the cast.

You might also be thinking, “Hey, that’s a bad choice!” Possibly you might think that because AI isn’t actually an Artificial Intelligence so much as a generator that sources other people’s hand-created art and steals it in order to cobble together something that is ostensibly new, but is in fact just a messy stew of actual humans’ hard work. Or you might remember the fact that Marvel has been under fire in recent years for over-working and under-resourcing their human Visual Effects (VFX) artists*. Or you might rightly think the credits, like most AI art, look like absolute shit.

(*Little side note here to address something I’ve seen cropping up a bunch on the ol’ Twitter: Computer Generated Images, aka CGI, aren’t just generated by a computer, they are created by a human being using a computer. Even with the curation process that clearly went on with the AI-generated images used in Secret Invasion, the base level of the “art” in the credits is almost definitely sourced from other preexisting images, which Marvel and Disney may or may not own the rights to. Once again: CGI, original art; AI, stealing.)

The credits themselves were created by Method Studios, who have worked on previous Marvel shows like Ms. Marvel, Loki, and Moon Knight — all of which are far more stylish and interesting than the Secret Invasion credits. Salim even seemed confused when talking about the process with Polygon (never a good sign for a director), noting that he wasn’t sure how the AI worked but, “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.” This seems to be about the same level that most folks approach AI which is looking at it like magic; when what AI actually does is more akin to an olde-timey Three-card monte game in the subway that seems incredible but is all about conning you out of your money.

Suffice it to say, actual comic book artists (including some who worked on the original Secret Invasion comic that partially inspired the series), and even a VFX artist who worked on the series, were not enthused. You can’t blame them, either: as companies start to gently “explore” the “possibilities” of AI, there’s a palpable and understandable fear from people in creative professions. That fear? Companies will soon discover that one person can generate multiple pieces with AI much more quickly than multiple people can in far less time. The counter-argument goes that what AI generates is mostly absolute garbage that steals from other people’s work. The counter-counter-argument goes: but it’s faster and costs less money.

The problem here with the Secret Invasion credits at their base is that while in theory, the idea of constantly morphing credits using the latest toy technology seems like a fun idea for a show all about spy thriller cutting-edge tech (it’s not actually about that, but whatever, we can pretend it’s Mission: Impossible with aliens even if it does mostly miss that mark), it’s actually a boneheaded idea that completely misses the larger impact of a major Disney/Marvel series using the number two enemy of creative people working in any profession at the current moment (number one is Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief David Zaslav). The WGA strike is in part fueled by the encroaching use of AI. The potential SAG strike is the same. Not to mention the comics industry is constantly embroiled in a fight about how the major companies (read: Marvel and DC Comics) have tended to leave their creators to quite literally die in the gutter while the people on top of the companies grow rich off the billion dollar movies and toy enterprises generated from these now dead/destitute writers’ and artists’ ideas.

The most ridiculous part about this is using AI to generate credits when Marvel could have used something from Leneil Francis Yu, who drew the original comic and is easily one of the best comic book artists of all time. But hey, this is far from the first time Marvel Studios has decided that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery rather than cold hard cash. Generally, artists and writers who worked heavily on storylines or characters that influence the shows and movies are relegated to a special thanks section, but things get dicier when, for example, David Aja’s iconic art for the Hawkeye comic he did with Matt Fraction was aped for the ad campaign and series, much to Aja’s surprise. Or the Mr. Knight suit from Moon Knight was used without initially paying artist Declan Shalvey (he was later compensated). But instead of using Yu’s art, or Steve McNiven’s cover art from the series, or even original art like Marvel did for the end credits on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, they decided to create a monstrosity that doesn’t come close to living up to any of that.

It’s sad, too, because the discourse over this credit sequence has over-shadowed potentially an even bigger issue, that in the opening episode of Secret Invasion Marvel has once again killed off a major female character in service of a major male character’s story (that’s called “fridging,” look it up, kids!). I jest, of course, they’re very bad in different ways. But both of Marvel’s little oopsies with the Secret Invasion premiere could have been steered clear of with a three-second conversation that showed any awareness about the hot-button issues surrounding the respective points. Hollywood is on the verge of a near-total shutdown over the use of AI? Maybe right now isn’t the time to do our first-ever AI-generated opening credits. Fridging is an issue that’s been discussed heavily in comic book fandom, including with several Marvel movies, for nearly thirty years? Perhaps reconsider that plot point, as well. These are unforced errors that, if skipped, could have kept the conversation focused firmly on the show. Instead, the conversation around Samuel L. Jackson’s first lead turn in the MCU is about bad credits and antiquated tropes. That’s the sort of mistake you shouldn’t need both eyes to see coming.

Secret Invasion streams Wednesdays on Disney+