Latest Marvel Movie Sparks AI Rumors
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always relied on cutting-edge computer effects, but the company has so far managed to avoid dipping into AI. That is often a talking point in online debates between fans of the MCU and DCEU, with many pointing out that the latter was doomed by a movie (The Flash) that relied on AI to ghoulishly reanimate beloved superhero celeb, Christopher Reeve. Now, though, the poster for Marvel’s Thunderbolts movie apparently has a character with six fingers, prompting online speculation about whether this is actually the result of AI or just some really weird cropping.
Thunderbolts AI?
Part of what makes the poster for Thunderbolts so unique is that it has all of its misfit characters squished into the frame, and some of these antiheroes (like White Widow and Winter Soldier) are more recognizable than others.
The character generating the most buzz is “Bob,” the mysterious figure in the lower left who the internet is convinced is the Sentry, a kind of schizophrenic Superman.
At first glance, the character appears to have six fingers, which is a very typical hallmark of an AI-generated image.
Other Marvel Poster Issues
While that seeming extra digit is the primary smoking gun for Marvel fans accusing the studio of using AI, there are some other oddities on the poster.
For example, Ghost, Red Guardian, and US Agent all have intersecting arms, and the intersection looks pretty bad at first glance.
There’s always a chance, of course, that this is just a strange choice by whoever designed the poster, and it simply looks off to the audience due to having so many characters clustered way too closely together.
Other Explanations?
As for the apparent extra digit on Bob, some Marvel fans pointed out that it may not be the effect of AI imagery. There’s always a chance that the MCU version of this character could have an extra finger even though his comics counterpart does not.
Fortunately, the speculation soon came to an end: when obsessive sleuths banded together like Reddit’s own Avengers, they managed to discover the real answer, and it’s much more boring than any of us could imagine.
A Very Simple Answer
It turns out that the sixth finger on this new Marvel character’s finger isn’t due to AI…instead, it came from something the franchise hasn’t had in a long time: some very tight editing.
If you look very closely at the image, the “sixth” finger is actually just Bob’s pinky. The reason that it looks like an extra digit is that the corner of the image was cropped so tightly that he seems to have sported another finger.
Marvel Getting Worse And Worse?
This revelation caused many Marvel fans to feel embarrassed after their mistaken conviction that this cinematic universe was resorting to AI marketing ploys.
More defensive fans pointed out that the MCU has seemingly had worse and worse CGI in recent years, and the leap from bad human-made art to bad AI art is smaller than you might think.
If nothing else, all of this speculation has increased interest in Thunderbolts, and if there’s anything the MCU could use right now, it’s some optimistic buzz about the future of the franchise.
