{"id":747725,"date":"2026-08-24T01:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/747725\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T01:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:50:08","slug":"spider-man-brand-new-day-is-caught-in-a-tangled-ai-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/747725\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Is Caught In a Tangled AI Web"},"content":{"rendered":"

While\u00a0Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/a> stays in theaters, it\u2019s now in the crossfire of allegations of generative AI use.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s art book recently released, and fans online saw a page featuring New York concept art. Taxis and buildings colliding into each other prompted the allegations of AI use amidst a general confusion of why you\u2019d need the tech to sketch out New York. Most users online deemed this a disappointing bit of news similar to the situation with <\/a>Supergirl<\/a>. But for others, this wasn\u2019t as open and shut as it seemed.<\/p>\n

Publisher of the ‘SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY’ concept art book comes out, explaining in detail which process they used for this specific art, having used the cloning tool and photobashing, admitting it was just laziness but no AI usage.<\/p>\n

The company also has an anti-AI policies. https:\/\/t.co\/ROHMrjummj<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NMW3KgyxCQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 That COMICBOOK Guy (@Culture3ase) August 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

A Reddit user by the name StingRe<\/a> claimed to have done the layout and design for the Spider-Man: Brand New Day art book. They alleged, to the extent of their knowledge, there was \u201cno AI art in [the book],\u201d and that they received assets from the Brand New Day\u00a0visual development team. While told that freelancers had used AI to populate backgrounds in their individual assets, StingRe noted (in now-deleted comments) that \u201cany art flashed for AI use was either not provided to me for [the book\u2019s] layout, or was removed.\u201d To boost their statement, they stated Marvel Studios\u2019 longtime visual development<\/a> head Ryan Meinerding\u00a0was \u201cvery strict\u201d about checking every page for AI.<\/p>\n

By StingRe\u2019s admission, something could\u2019ve slipped through the cracks. However, they countered a thought that others have had, which is that Adobe Photoshop\u2019s fill-in tool is why the art looks as it does. They speculated the tool, which has been part of Photoshop for over 15 years, resulted in the \u201cwonky taxi\u201d: a watermark might\u2019ve existed between two taxis, and when removed, the fill-in pulled in the closest pixels to close up that dead space. Ultimately, they concluded their explanation stating what happened was \u201con the artist,\u201d and revealed Disney and Marvel weren\u2019t looking to publish anything made with genAI.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t legally own anything made by AI, and contracts stipulate it must be \u2018your wholly original work,’\u201d they explained. \u201cAnyone taking shortcuts in their art, here or otherwise, is making that decision personally. It isn\u2019t a mandate from the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

At time of writing, Meinerding and Disney don\u2019t appear to have spoken on the matter. io9 reached out to Meinerding, and will update when a response is given.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n