Producer of "Beyond the Spider-Verse" Responds to Rumors of AI Use in Animation

"There is no generative AI in 'Beyond the Spider-Verse' and there never will be."

Three's a Crowd

The producer of the new "Spider-Verse" animated film has laid to rest concerns that AI was used to create the new "threequel."

"There is no generative AI in 'Beyond the Spider-Verse' and there never will be," tweeted Chris Miller, the film trilogy's cowriter and producer. "One of the main goals of the films is to create new visual styles that have never been seen in a studio [computer graphics] film, not steal the generic plagiarized average of other artists’ work."

Miller's affirmation comes in response to an outcry over vague comments from Sony executive Tony Vinciquerra, who was quoted at a recent investor event saying that the studio behind the animated series would be using AI to lower costs.

"We are very focused on AI. The biggest problem with making films today is the expense," the Sony exec said, per IndieWire. "We will be looking at ways to... produce both films for theaters and television in a more efficient way, using AI primarily."

Unsurprisingly, fans were startled by the comments amid widespread backlash to the use of the burgeoning tech in entertainment.

"Keep generative AI away from Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse," reads the post Miller was responding to, for instance. "AI robs people of their jobs & produces nothing but slop. We don’t want that anywhere near this film or any film for that matter. Please keep it away from the filmmaking process."

Movie Moves

The producer's denial of AI use in "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse," which is still awaiting a release date after being indefinitely delayed by Sony last year, comes amid tension over the use of AI in Hollywood.

After lengthy strikes in 2023 over studios' interest in the disruptive technology, the Screen Actors' Guild made the strange decision to ink a deal allowing AI voice cloning in video games — a move many saw as a betrayal of union rank and file who didn't sign off on such a provision, and which could constitute a slippery slope down the line.

Though SAG insists the deal is meant to give voice actors greater protections and freedom to license their work, it nevertheless has opened up further concerns about how studios and entertainment workers' supposed representatives will handle AI decision-making.

As such, Miller's insistence that the "Spider-Verse" films will "never" use AI may come in conflict with Sony's insistence on using it to cut costs. But for now, it doesn't appear that the tech was used in the creation of its stunning visuals.

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