The world of Secret invasion is quite vague. With thousands of shape-shifting Skrulls on Earth, you can’t trust what you think you see. One minute you’re looking at Nick Fury or an esteemed world leader; the next you see their face completely change into something (or someone) else.
This is a plot breakdown of the new Marvel Cinematic Universe show on Disney Plus (as well as its comic book counterpart), following Nick Fury as he reveals – what else? – a covert invasion by the Skrull people of Earth. But the concept of shape-shifting is also reflected in the series’ very different approach to the opening credits, which look like a sort of watercolor painting of the protagonists and themes of Secret invasion.
Since we’re seeing a kind of twitchy and ominous succession of the Skrull green taking over more and more of the world, it looks a lot like an AI was told to interpret the concept of “Skrull Cubism” – which actually isn’t so far from what it is. As director and executive producer Ali Selim tells Polygon, the intro sequence was designed by Method Studios using artificial intelligence, something he thinks fits the show’s themes.
“When we reached out to the AI vendors, that was part of it – it just came straight out of the shape-shifting Skrull world identity, you know? Who did this? Who is this?Says Selim.
Like many people, Selim says he doesn’t “really understand” how the AI works, but he was fascinated by the ways the AI could translate the sense of foreboding he wanted for the series. “We talked to them about ideas and themes and words, and then the computer turned on and did something. And then we could change it a little bit by using words, and it would change.
Method Studios did not respond to Polygon’s request for comment on how it designed the series. But the company has worked on Marvel shows before Mrs. Marvel, Loki, And Moon Knight, in addition to Game of ThronesBattle of the Bastards and For all humanity season 2 and 3.
The concept of AI art is certainly a hot-button topic right now, with concerns ranging from artists’ rights over their styles and how their work is used to the demands of those striking with the Writers Guild. But others, like Selim or Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa — a streamer who uses AI to build a chatbot version of himself — see AI as a tool that can thrive in the uncanny valley buffer of real life and artifice. In case of secret invasion, Selim was excited about what Method Studios brought to the show: “It felt exploratory and inevitable, and exciting and different.”
Secret invasion hopes to make its own mark as a different kind of MCU project, leaning on the espionage and intrigue of projects like Captain America: The Winter Soldier as much as the connective tissue that binds all MCU projects. Like it or not, one thing is certain: Secret invasion‘s approach to opening the credits is unlike any other MCU show or movie to date.