The MCU Could Soon Start To Dabble In AI
The Russos’ latest project is a bad omen for the MCU.
In 2023, Joe Russo, one half of the Russo brother directing duo, told Collider that the first AI-created feature film would come in two years. Well, two years later, we’re not quite at that point, but AI has certainly crept its way into Hollywood productions more and more.
Take, for example, the Netflix series about the Canadian woman Jennifer Pan who took out a hit on her parents. The series used an AI-generated image of Jennifer with a big smile and posing with peace signs to show she was a happy-go-lucky girl, even though no such image existed. On the narrative feature side, the AI-generated images in Late Night With the Devil whipped up a small controversy. AI even infiltrated awards season, as The Brutalist used the technology to tweak the vowels of its stars’ Hungarian speech.
Russo may not have been proved correct, but that isn’t stopping him from doubling down on AI in post-production — a move that may signal the first AI-aided Marvel movie.
The Russo Brothers used AI to help create their new movie The Electric State.
In an interview with The Times, Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed they used AI in post-production for their new movie The Electric State in order to modulate a voice. Joe Russo defended the choice, saying it was “something any ten-year-old could do after watching a TikTok video.”
“There’s a lot of finger-pointing and hyperbole because people are afraid,” he said. “They don’t understand. But ultimately you’ll see AI used more significantly.” It’s obvious this use of AI wasn’t a budget issue — The Electric State had a whopping budget of $320 million — so it’s possible we’ll see this same AI usage in the Russos' next big projects: Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers: Doomsday may use AI to bring Robert Downey, Jr.’s Dr. Doom to life.
Calling these movies highly-anticipated would be an understatement, as the previous Russo Marvel movies, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, rank among some of the most successful movies in film history. But when those movies were made, AI was not in the “generative state” Russo claims it is in now. Could we see the first MCU movie to use AI on the creative side, and if so, how will that affect the movie? Could AI ease the burden on visual effects artists, or will it replace the increasingly scarce jobs available in Hollywood currently?
There’s a lot resting on Doomsday and Secret Wars, as those movies will prove if the MCU still has the event-movie draw it had back in 2019. Now, it looks like there will be even higher stakes — proving if using AI in blockbuster movies is noticeable or even worth it.
