When you win an Oscar for your animation work, the last thing you expect is having to defend yourself against accusations that your art is AI-generated. But that’s exactly where Alberto Mielgo finds himself after directing the stunning cinematic short for Bungie’s Marathon. The Spider-Verse director has come out swinging on Instagram, pushing back hard against claims his team used artificial intelligence while also addressing the game’s messy plagiarism scandal.
The situation is complicated. Marathon has been drowning in controversy since May 2025 when independent artist Fern Hook exposed Bungie for stealing her designs and using them without permission in the game’s alpha build. That scandal cast a shadow over everything Marathon-related, including Mielgo’s cinematic work. Now the director is drawing a clear line between what his team did and what Bungie’s internal artists got caught doing.
The AI Accusations
Let’s start with the AI controversy because it’s the simpler of the two issues. After the Marathon cinematic dropped in April 2025, some viewers began questioning whether parts of it were generated using AI tools. Given how quickly AI image generation has advanced and how prevalent it’s become in the industry, the skepticism wasn’t completely unfounded. Some of the visual effects, character movements, and background details had that slightly uncanny quality that sometimes appears in AI-assisted work.
Mielgo was not having it. In an Instagram post featuring stills from the Marathon cinematic, he wrote that he can’t believe we’ve reached a point where he has to clarify this, but here it goes – everything in the film was created by humans. Not just a few humans working with AI assist. A full team of 155 incredible people spending months on paintings, animations, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and rendering.
The director explained that their Achilles heel was time, implying the rushed production schedule might have resulted in some rough edges that people mistook for AI artifacts. But he emphasized that every frame was crafted by artists doing traditional digital work, not prompting an algorithm and cherry-picking results.
What makes his defense particularly credible is his track record. Alberto Mielgo won an Academy Award for The Windshield Wiper and gained widespread recognition for his work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. His signature style involves bold colors, graphic design influences, and a mix of 2D and 3D techniques that pushes boundaries. That style is so distinctive that assuming it’s AI-generated fundamentally misunderstands what makes his work unique.
The Plagiarism Problem
Now for the messier part. In May 2025, UK-based artist Fern Hook, who goes by Antireal online, posted side-by-side comparisons showing that Marathon had lifted elements directly from her 2017 poster designs. We’re not talking about general inspiration or similar aesthetic choices. Multiple in-game textures contained her exact graphics, down to text that still read Antireal daily series in some cases.
The stolen assets included arrows, symbols, text layouts, and entire visual motifs that Hook had developed for her minimalist graphic design work years before Marathon entered production. Some Marathon environments were covered with these lifted designs, making it clear this wasn’t a single accidental use but systematic incorporation of someone else’s work without credit or compensation.
Bungie responded quickly, admitting the theft and blaming a former artist who had checked Hook’s designs into the project as part of a texture sheet. Art Director Joseph Cross addressed the controversy during a developer livestream, saying there was absolutely no excuse for this oversight and promising stricter checks to prevent similar situations.
But the damage was done. Marathon’s reputation, already shaky due to mixed reactions about turning the cult classic franchise into an extraction shooter, took a massive hit. Reports emerged that team morale at Bungie had fallen into free fall following the scandal. The company was forced to delay the game beyond its original 2025 release window.
Mielgo Addresses the Connection
Here’s where things get interesting. A commenter on Mielgo’s Instagram asked how he felt about Bungie giving his team stolen work to build on, questioning whether the cinematic used any of the plagiarized assets. That comment appears to have been deleted, but screenshots of Mielgo’s replies are still circulating, and they reveal a director who is deeply frustrated with how the conversation has unfolded.
First, Mielgo fired back with a short, sharp comment expressing what he hates most about the situation – working for years to create something cool, only for it to get eclipsed by what he called sphincter smelly press and headline readers. That’s not subtle language, and it shows how raw he feels about his work being dragged into a controversy his team had nothing to do with.
In a longer follow-up reply, Mielgo went deeper. He accused the commenter of wanting to stir up drama and called them out as the whistleblower, the truth seeker. He said they were wrong and misinformed about the situation. According to Mielgo’s understanding, Bungie accidentally used a texture that was mostly typos and text, all lost in a wonderful massive creative pipeline.
He characterized the whole thing as a genuine mistake blown out of proportion by critics and hungry sphincter press. More importantly, he drew a clear line between the plagiarized texture issue and his cinematic team’s work. Mielgo stated that none of the stolen text or fonts ever reached his team. The cinematic was produced separately from the in-game asset pipeline where the plagiarism occurred.
Is His Defense Valid
Let’s break down whether Mielgo’s position holds water. On the AI front, his defense is rock solid. The credits for the Marathon cinematic list 155 people across multiple production companies including Pinkman.TV, Agora, and Illusorium. Traditional animation production at this scale simply doesn’t happen with AI generation. You can’t fake that many legitimate credits, and Mielgo’s studio has too much reputation to risk on a lie this easily exposed.
The style itself, while unconventional, matches Mielgo’s previous work on projects like Watch Dogs Legion and Into the Spider-Verse. Accusations that it looks AI-generated say more about how good modern animation has become at pushing stylistic boundaries than they do about actual AI use. If anything, the fact that people think it might be AI is almost a compliment to how bold and unconventional the visual approach is.
The plagiarism question is trickier. Mielgo claims his team never touched the stolen assets, and there’s no evidence contradicting that. The plagiarism involved in-game texture sheets used in Marathon’s alpha build, not the cinematic short that was produced separately as marketing material. Different pipelines, different teams, different workflows.
That said, calling the plagiarism a genuine mistake that was blown out of proportion is a tough sell. Fern Hook didn’t just find one or two similar designs. She documented extensive, systematic use of her work, including cases where her actual artist signature remained visible in Marathon’s textures. That goes beyond an honest mistake into territory that looks more like intentional copying, even if the blame falls on one former artist rather than Bungie as a whole.
The Press Problem
Mielgo’s repeated use of the phrase sphincter smelly press reveals deep frustration with how gaming media has covered the Marathon situation. He feels like the plagiarism story has overshadowed legitimate artistic work, and he’s not entirely wrong. Articles about Marathon now lead with the art theft scandal rather than discussing gameplay, visual direction, or the ambitious cinematic marketing.
But this is also how accountability works in a creative industry. When a company steals an independent artist’s work and gets caught, that becomes the story. Journalists covering that scandal aren’t doing sphincter smelly work. They’re documenting a legitimate controversy that raises questions about Bungie’s creative processes and quality control.
The unfortunate reality for Mielgo is that his work exists within a larger context he can’t control. Even if his team operated with complete integrity and produced something genuinely impressive, it’s attached to a project that now carries the stain of plagiarism. That’s not fair to the 155 people who worked on the cinematic, but it’s an inevitable consequence of how public perception works.
Where Marathon Stands Now
All of this controversy lands while Bungie is trying to salvage Marathon’s reputation ahead of an unknown future release date. The game was delayed out of 2025, ran a closed technical test with around 80,000 players, and is reportedly getting a new ViDoc soon to show off visual updates and system changes based on feedback.
The extraction shooter genre is crowded, and Marathon faces stiff competition from established games like Escape from Tarkov, Hunt: Showdown, and the upcoming Delta Force extraction mode. Bungie needed Marathon to launch with momentum and positive buzz. Instead, the conversation revolves around art theft, AI accusations, and team morale problems.
Alberto Mielgo’s cinematic remains one of the few unqualified positives in Marathon’s troubled development story. The eight-minute short impressed viewers when it dropped, showcasing a bold visual language that felt fresh in a genre dominated by gritty military realism. That Mielgo now has to defend it against AI claims and distance himself from plagiarism he had nothing to do with shows how thoroughly the broader controversy has poisoned Marathon’s public image.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Alberto Mielgo?
Alberto Mielgo is an Oscar-winning Spanish animator and director known for his work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and his Academy Award-winning short film The Windshield Wiper. He has a distinctive style that blends 2D and 3D animation with bold graphic design influences. He directed the cinematic short for Bungie’s Marathon, which premiered in April 2025.
Was the Marathon cinematic made with AI?
No, according to Alberto Mielgo, the Marathon cinematic was created entirely by human artists. He stated that 155 people worked on the film over months, handling paintings, animations, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and rendering. The accusations appear to stem from the film’s bold, unconventional style rather than actual AI use.
What was the Marathon plagiarism scandal?
In May 2025, independent artist Fern Hook discovered that Marathon’s alpha build contained extensive use of her 2017 poster designs without permission or credit. Bungie admitted the theft, blamed a former artist who had included Hook’s work in texture sheets, and apologized. The scandal significantly damaged Marathon’s reputation and reportedly caused team morale to plummet.
Did Mielgo’s team use the stolen artwork?
According to Mielgo, no. He stated that none of the stolen text or fonts ever reached his cinematic team. The plagiarism involved in-game texture sheets used by Bungie’s internal asset pipeline, while Mielgo’s cinematic was produced separately by external studios including Pinkman.TV, Agora, and Illusorium.
Why is Mielgo angry at the press?
Mielgo feels that years of hard work by 155 artists on the Marathon cinematic has been eclipsed by coverage of the plagiarism scandal and AI accusations. He used the phrase sphincter smelly press to describe journalists he believes are focusing on controversy rather than the artistic merit of the work his team produced.
Is the Marathon plagiarism really just a mistake?
While Mielgo characterized it as a genuine mistake, the evidence suggests otherwise. Fern Hook documented extensive, systematic use of her designs throughout Marathon’s environments, with some textures still containing her artist signature. This goes beyond a simple oversight, though Bungie maintains that one former artist was responsible rather than the company as a whole.
When will Marathon be released?
Marathon no longer has a public release date after being delayed beyond its original 2025 window. Bungie ran a closed technical test with 80,000 players and is reportedly preparing a new ViDoc to showcase updates based on feedback. The plagiarism scandal and development challenges make the actual release timeline uncertain.
What style is the Marathon cinematic?
The Marathon cinematic uses what Mielgo calls a blend of 2D and 3D techniques with strong graphic design influences. It features bold colors, stylized character designs, and a visual language that connects to his previous work on projects like Into the Spider-Verse and Watch Dogs Legion. The style is intentionally unconventional and pushes boundaries compared to typical video game marketing.
Art in the Age of AI Suspicion
Perhaps the most depressing aspect of this entire situation is what it reveals about where we are as a culture. An Oscar-winning animator with a distinctive, recognizable style now has to defend his work against AI accusations because his techniques are bold enough that some viewers can’t believe humans created them. That’s backwards.
The Marathon cinematic represents months of work by over 150 artists, each contributing their skills to create something that stands out in a sea of generic video game marketing. That it’s being questioned as AI-generated rather than celebrated for pushing creative boundaries shows how paranoid we’ve become about artificial intelligence in art.
Meanwhile, the actual art theft that happened at Bungie involved old-fashioned human plagiarism. Someone copied another artist’s work and passed it off as their own, a practice as old as art itself. No AI required, just the timeless temptation to take shortcuts at someone else’s expense.
Alberto Mielgo will likely move on from this controversy to his next project, carrying an Oscar and a impressive portfolio that speaks for itself. Marathon will eventually release, probably with all traces of Fern Hook’s stolen designs scrubbed from the build. And the gaming community will continue arguing about what counts as AI art versus human craft, often getting it spectacularly wrong in both directions. For now, at least one thing is clear – the Marathon cinematic was made by people, even if everything around it has been a mess.