Warner Bros. has reportedly removed a behind-the-scenes video from ‘Supergirl’ after footage appearing to show AI-generated concept art for Jason Momoa’s Lobo sparked backlash online.The controversy began after fans noticed director Craig Gillespie and Jason discussing Lobo’s look on what appeared to be generative AI tools or image-generation tabs visible in the BTS clip. The footage has since been taken down, although screenshots and clips from the video have continued to circulate online.
WATCH: Lobo concept art
Fans criticise use of AI in Lobo’s design
Several fans criticised the apparent use of AI during the film’s concept-development process, particularly given the extensive existing images and character concepts in the comics and other fan artwork. One fan wrote, “If you look closely, you can see multiple generative AI tabs for concept on the left. So it wasn’t just Jason Momoa’s Lobo that was designed with AI”Another posted, “They had comic book materials featuring Lobo to work with and thousands of fan art pics of Jason as Lobo and they went with AI slop.”A fan who said they enjoyed the film nevertheless criticised the reported use of AI, writing, “I say this as someone who liked #Supergirl: the fact that Gillespie & co. used AI to decide on the look for Momoa’s Lobo is embarrassing, to say the least! And it hurts even more when you consider that the DC Comics boss, the legendary Jim Lee, has heavily criticised AI!”Another post read, “There are countless DC comics that Craig Gillespie could’ve used for Lobo design inspiration; yet he resorted to using AI.Complete incompetence.”Another fan pointed to the extensive fan-created material surrounding Momoa’s casting as Lobo, writing, “Almost two decades of fan edits of Jason Momoa as Lobo, stacks of Lobo comics where they make Lobo look specifically like Jason Momoa…and they still used ai concept art”
Others defend AI use in pre-production
Not everyone viewed the footage as evidence of a serious problem. Some fans argued that using generative AI as an exploratory tool during pre-production is different from replacing artists, writers or other members of a film’s creative team. One supporter wrote, “So apparently SUPERGIRL used AI-generated concept images while figuring out Lobo, and LANTERNS apparently had AI imagery sitting on one of its production mood boards. And people are losing their minds.”“Guys, generative AI has been mainstream for nearly four years. These tools aren’t disappearing. They’re getting better, filmmakers are experimenting with them, and eventually using AI somewhere in pre-production is probably going to be about as shocking as somebody using Photoshop. Does that mean replace the concept artists? No. Replace writers? No. Replace actors? No. Human creativity still needs to drive the movie. There are absolutely legitimate conversations to have about jobs, training data and where studios draw that line. But Craig Gillespie looking through generated images of Jason Momoa as Lobo while figuring out a design did not write SUPERGIRL. It didn’t direct Milly Alcock. It didn’t decide whether the movie worked. It’s concepting. If AI starts replacing entire creative departments, let’s have that fight.”At present, it is unclear whether the images visible in the behind-the-scenes footage were used as final reference material for Lobo’s design or were simply part of the character’s visual development. Warner Bros. and DC Studios have not revealed why the video was removed or commented on the controversy.‘Supergirl’ stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El and Jason Momoa as Lobo, with Gillespie directing. The film is part of the new DC Studios slate overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran.