Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is probably one of the most anticipated films in the superhero film genre. After the incredible Into the Spider-Verse and its equally great sequel Across the Spider-Verse have been praised for their stunning, diverse animation, fans are looking forward to the third and final film in the trilogy, which will take things even further when it finally comes out. What they don’t expect is that Sony Generative AI into the mix to create art from an algorithm that is fed with stolen work. Writer and producer Christopher Miller has tried to allay such concerns by stating unequivocally: Beyond the Spider-Verse will not have such technology.
A Spider-Man Fan on X (formerly Twitter) tweeted a message to Sony Animation’s account asking them to keep generative AI away from Beyond the Spider-Verse.
“AI is stealing people’s jobs and producing nothing but crap. We don’t want it anywhere near this or any other film,” the post reads. “Please keep it out of the filmmaking process. Thank you.”
The tweet also tagged the writing and producing duo Miller and Chris Lord as well as Miller took the time to answer. He assured fans that Beyond the Spider-Verse will not use generative AI. He also expressed considerable criticism of the use of the technology.
“There is no generative AI in Beyond the Spider-Verse and there never will be,” Miller wrote. “One of the main goals of the films is to create new visual styles never seen in a studio CG film, not to steal the generic, plagiarized average of other artists’ work.”
While it is encouraging to hear Miller argue for the human touch in these films, any discussion of the means by which Spider-Vers Films are made requires mention of reports of overwork and unsustainable production processes during the development of Across the Spider-Verse. For more information, see Checkout vultureStory. The solution to these problems is not to replace human workers with AI, but to create better conditions for a more humane working environment. Many reactions to Miller’s statement acknowledged that his attitude was appreciated, while rightly criticising the alleged working conditions at the Spider-Vers Movies.
Beyond the Spider-Verse was originally supposed to premiere in March 2024, but that obviously didn’t happen. In December 2023, Miller said that Production was underway about the film, but no new release date has been announced.
