If you’ve watched the premiere episode of the Marvel show Secret Invasion, then you noticed the ominous, shifty green-tinged intro that seems to morph from one thing to another. This effect was created by AI, and not everyone is happy about it – especially an artist named Jeff Simpson who claims to have worked on the show.
Simpson is a digital artist with an impressive pedigree that includes video games and movies in addition to TV shows. His gripe has to do with how the AI technology was used, saying he was “devastated” and that he believes AI will “eliminate artists careers.”
Simpson followed that up with another tweet saying the intro “was outsourced” to a visual effects company called Method Studios. He also wanted to make it clear that he didn’t work on the intro, he worked on “character design, props [and] keyframes.”
Kevin is no stranger to creating on Marvel shows, either. He also did early designs for the K.E.V.I.N. robot from She Hulk: Attorney at Law. As for the intro to Secret Invasion, here’s a sample:
Looks pretty neat. Producer Ali Selim told Polygon the use of AI in the intro apparently plays into the themes of the show,
“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?” Selim said, adding that he didn’t “really understand” how the technology works but he knew it captured the feeling he was going for.
“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.”
While a lot of artists and creators are speaking out against AI, Selim said it was actually very exciting.
“It felt explorative and inevitable, and exciting, and different.”