Marvel fans rejoiced as the first poster and trailer dropped for the long-anticipated second reboot of The Fantastic Four film series.
But the enthusiasm gave way to criticism as eagle-eyed MCU fans scrutinized the poster for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, accusing the studio of choosing to use AI instead of hiring artists to generate the 1960s-inspired image.
Here is the poster.
Fans noted some glaring inconsistencies in the promotional poster, which features a crowd cheering on the unseen superheroes.
Some of those eyebrow-raising peculiarities included a person with four fingers holding a banner, and a woman's face being duplicated in the crowd scene.
Marvel looses all goodwill from the F4 trailer for then releasing this AI slop as a poster
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— Wayne Talbot (@waynetalbot.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 6:42 AM
In true internet fashion. I’m getting grief over posting this from multiple folks. Thanks to @ondrive.bsky.social for doing a more in depth look at even more inconsistencies throughout this garbage poster.
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— Wayne Talbot (@waynetalbot.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Here's a screenshot of the image from BlueSky user Wayne Talbot's post above.
Visual glitches are highlighted and identified with descriptions such as "Three fingers," "Dupe head," "That jacket is a poncho with buttons," "Nose to the viewfinder," "Conjoined siblings representation," and several others.
@waynetalbot.bsky.social
People continued sharing their grievances over the bizarre findings.
Who's arm does that belong to?
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— Justin VanLaere (@storminspank.com) February 5, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Why pay actual living people with talent when you can tell a machine to pump out whatever that is? Capitalism is a hell of a drug…
— Adam Nelson (@arnelson.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 6:54 AM
However, according to TheWrap, a Marvel spokesperson denied claims the studio used AI to render the posters.
The skeptics remained unconvinced.
Discerning fans still noted how human artists aren't exempt from making bad renderings.
Others were unfazed by the controversy.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film is directed by Matt Shakman and features Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Fantastic Four.
Co-stars include Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles.
It will kick off as the first film of Phase Six of the MCU in the U.S. on July 25, 2025.
You can watch a trailer here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be