The Fantastic Four controversy shows AI has ruined poster design

Another day, another case of suspect AI art from a major brand. This time it's the turn of Marvel Entertainment, whose Fantastic Four: First Steps posters are being picked apart by fans, some of whom think they've spotted tell-tale signs of AI image generation.

Marvel denies it, and insists that an AI image generator wasn't used to make the artwork. It might well be telling the truth. Some of the "evidence" of AI being picked out could just as easily be the result of rushed compositing in Photoshop. But since there's no knowing any more, which means people are quick to suspect AI. It seems a shame that the controversy is overpowering the glory that is The Thing character design.

Over on X, most of the criticism focuses on one of the four Fantastic Four posters showing a crowd scene. Suspect elements include repeated faces in the crowd, which seems to me more likely a sign of old-fashioned compositing than AI. Even the most suspicious element – a hand with three fingers – could probably be explained by over editing. It looks as if the figure may originally have been pointing, and that an artist was told to add a flag in there.

Film fans would dissect and criticise poster designs long before AI image generators came along, and we've seen plenty of anatomical oddities over the years. They used to be dismissed as "Photoshop fails", but today, it seems everything is an 'AI fail' (see our round up of the big AI art controversies from last year).

AI art remains so controversial that a brand like Marvel, whose history is deeply connected to the work of artists should probably avoid it. I can understand why Marvel fans are upset. But it becomes difficult in these cases where it might not be AI.

It makes it hard to simply enjoy any poster design anymore since we'll always on the look out for a hint of AI to cast scorn on. And that also makes me worry that brands will start to think that if they're going to get accused of using AI anyway, why not just use it?

I'm not sure what the solution is. Perhaps brands like Marvel should make the effort to ensure that they use a style of art that can't possibly be taken for AI, or perhaps we'll soon need tags to certify a design as human created rather than the other way around.

What do you think AI or not AI? And does it matter? Let us know in the comments.

UPDATE 6 February: Marvel has followed up on the poster above with some delightfully retro Fantastic Four artwork that definitely doesn't look like AI. Hurrah!