[UPDATE] Marvel Studios Accused Of Using AI For New Deadpool 3 Poster

15.02.2024 - 03:55 / gamerant.com / Ademilade ShodipeDosunmu / Ai

UPDATE: The Marvel India Twitter and Instagram pages have since deleted the post. Redditors on the MarvelStudiosSpoilers sub-Reddit claim the poster was fan art shared by the accounts, though an artist did not appear to be credited.

The original story follows.

A new Deadpool 3poster from Marvel Studios has stirred up controversy as fans call out the graphic for using artificial intelligence despite heavy criticism leveled at the company after its first recorded use of AI in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

With Deadpool 3 being the MCU's only 2024 movie release, it was expected that the company would feature the character in their promotional material for Valentine's Day, leading to no surprise when a new Deadpool 3 poster was released to commemorate the occasion. However, the poster would invite much more controversy than seasonal love for the studio behind it.

Similar to how Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion used AI for the intro, the Deadpool 3 promo poster seems to have used a tool best left in the toolbox. At first glance, the image posted by Marvel India of Deadpool and Wolverine bringing hands together to form a heart on the Valentine's Day post is on theme and cute. However, eagle-eyed fans were quick to spot several tells that the image was, in fact, AI-generated content. Scrutiny by The Streamr, which laid out how they verified the social media account, reveals several glaring signs that the graphic wasn’t made by a human artist, including massive errors like Wolverine's gloves being entirely incorrect and the detailing on Deadpool's hands not matching either. Wolverine's claws also indicate that something is amiss, as the claws look unnaturally warped and weirdly placed, a mistake that a flesh and blood artist would have trouble making on purpose, let alone as an oversight.

While fans have used Artificial Intelligence for minor amusement, like recasting Marvel heroes as DC characters with AI, the use of the technology by big companies like Marvel Studios has been controversial even at the best of times and downright frowned on recently. After Secret Invasion's opening sequence, fans likely thought the message had gone across loud and clear. However, the use of AI in an instance where any number of real artists could have been hired to do the job infinitely better and with no ethical qualms shows that the company still sees some leeway to be had on the matter.

Despite this little hiccup on the publicity front, Deadpool 3 is still well on track to being one of 2024's most highly anticipated sequel projects, and it will weather the storm more easily than Secret Invasion did because the errant graphic won’t appear in the film itself. However, what Marvel Studios might do to address the backlash beyond