Today, Disney released the first episode of the brand new Marvel Studios series, “Secret Invasion”, on Disney+.  The series is set in the present day MCU, Nick Fury learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls. Fury joins his allies, including Everett Ross, Maria Hill and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth. Together they race against time to thwart the imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.

While there has been lots of excitement online about the new show, there’s also been lots of complaints from fans about the opening credits of the show, which shows several characters from the show, such as Nick Fury, mixed up with the shape-shifting Skrulls, along with iconic locations from the show.  The opening credits have a weird green art style that looks very odd, and it’s supposed to represent the Skrulls slowly taking over the world.  But one of the reasons people have been upset by the opening credits, is that it’s because they’ve been created by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Over the past few months, the use of AI has become a mainstream discussion as creatives have pushed back on platforms like ChatGPT, which have been creating stories, artwork and much more, all without any human interaction.  The use of AI is even one of the main discussion points in the recent talent negotiations with writers, directors and actors.

During an interview with Polygon, the shows director and executive producer Ali Selim confirmed that the intro sequence was designed by Method Studios, who used artificial intelligence to create something he thinks plays with the very 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?”

He explained how he was fascinated with how the AI could translate the sense of foreboding he wanted for the series.

“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 he might have thought that the use of AI to create the show’s opening credits was explorative, inevitable, exciting, and different, it has gotten many fans and even people who worked on the show, upset over how Marvel and Disney could have used AI in such a high-profile project right now.  Especially with the writer’s strike already underway and the actors guild potentially going on strike soon, the use of AI for the opening credits has resulted in maybe some unnecessary backlash over “Secret Invasion”.

What do you think of Disney using AI for the opening credits of “Secret Invasion”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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