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Disney and Marvel deny using AI in The Fantastic Four: First Steps posters

Disney has gotten some flack for seemingly utilizing AI in a poster for Marvel's upcoming Fantastic Four movie. You be the judge:

ByAshley Hurst|
(L-R): Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL.
(L-R): Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios' FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps welcomes Marvel's first family into the sacred timeline. The movie promises to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, going toe-to-toe with James Gunn and Peter Safran's debut DC Studios movie Superman.

The official trailer for the new Fantastic Four movie was released earlier this week, and it was pretty impressive. We got our first proper glimpse of the cast, which includes Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm) and Ebon Moss-Bach (The Thing), plus a sneaky look at the world-consuming Glacutus. Check it out:

The trailer looks great! But when Marvel posted the movie's official posters, things started to turn a little ugly. The problem? Well, as fans instantly pointed out, they look very, very AI-generated. There's one in particular that features every AI trope in the book, from repeated faces to inconsistent limbs (yes, really) to a person misusing a camera. It's all there. See for yourself:

FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2025 MARVEL.

After The Hollywood Reporter raised concerns about the evidence of AI in the poster, a Disney spokesperson has denied any use of artificially generated content. Some fans on Reddit have defended the poster, pointing out that it is possible for fingers to look like that:

But I have a hard time believing the defenders. Despite the fact that the poster clearly displays the signature style of AI, we've already seen Marvel use AI before. If we cast our minds back to 2023 and the release of Secret Invasion, the intro was designed by Method Studios using artificial intelligence as a tool. Granted, it was a mixture of human craft and AI, but it was still met with backlash.

Disney must have enough money to pay real people to create content for its flagship projects. Or perhaps the House of Mouse is going broke, in which case The Fantastic Four would really need to smash another billion dollars at the box office.

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