Marvel’s official Spider-Man: Brand New Day art book is barely two days old, and fans are already zooming in.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day: The Art of the Movie, the 208-page hardcover released August 18, includes a piece of concept art titled “Big City, Little Spider” that appears to have been created with generative AI, at least in part.
The Direct first reported the find, and the evidence is hard to argue with. Two taxis traveling in opposite directions appear to melt into each other, a fire escape warps and bends in ways no human hand would draw, and background buildings dissolve into the smeared, garbled detail that has become the telltale signature of AI image generation.
The piece is credited to concept artist Scott McInnes, whose credits include Morbius, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Andor, Barbie, and Gladiator II.
Neither Marvel Studios nor McInnes has commented as of this writing, so consider the AI identification apparent rather than officially confirmed. Fans online have already reached their verdict.
It also appears to be the only piece in the book with obvious AI tells, which makes the one that slipped through stand out even more.
This is the same art book that leaked online back in early July, revealing the Savage Hulk, Punisher, and Scorpion designs weeks before the movie hit theaters.
Our Review Said The Movie Looked Like AI
Here’s the thing: this lines up with what we saw in the finished film.
From our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review: “At times, the visuals look overly artificial, almost like AI imagery or a video game cutscene. It is most noticeable during the street-swinging sequences.”
We called the special effects the one weak spot in an otherwise great movie.
Now the official art book shows AI-flavored imagery was in the development pipeline. Whether AI touched the final VFX or stayed at the concept stage, the eye test and the art book are telling the same story.
Marvel Fired Its Artists Months Ago
The timing makes this worse.
Earlier this year, Disney eliminated Marvel Studios’ in-house visual development team, the artists who designed the look of the MCU for nearly two decades, and laid off Andy Park after 16 years. Park has said Avengers: Doomsday is his final Marvel work.
So the art department gets gutted, and months later, apparent AI art shows up in an official Marvel product that costs fans nearly $50. Draw your own conclusions.
This isn’t Marvel’s first AI flashpoint, either. Secret Invasion premiered on Disney+ back in 2023 with an AI-generated opening title sequence that fans hated.
AI Is Already A Hollywood Staple
Anyone treating this as an isolated slip-up hasn’t been paying attention.
Just last week, a Supergirl behind-the-scenes featurette revealed DC used AI to design Jason Momoa’s Lobo, and per our insiders, James Gunn is using AI on Man of Tomorrow as well.
Disney, meanwhile, signed a landmark deal with OpenAI to bring Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters to the Sora AI video platform, with Bob Iger calling the rapid advancement of AI an important moment for the industry. The deal has since been canceled.
The Russo Brothers have called AI a potentially valuable tool in the filmmaking process heading into Avengers: Doomsday.
The pattern is obvious. AI isn’t coming to Hollywood. It’s already here, baked into the pipelines at Marvel, DC, and Disney, and audiences only find out when it slips out through a featurette or an art book.
With Brand New Day sitting north of $2 billion worldwide, the biggest movie of the year has apparent AI in its official art book, and it won’t matter a bit to the bottom line.
Expect more of this, not less. It’s in far more of what you’re watching than the studios will ever admit.
Check out everything we know in our Spider-Man: Brand New Day hub.
