Marathon cinematic short director, Alberto Mielgo, speaks up about the AI questions and the plagiarism scandal tied to the game, calling the situation a genuine mistake that’s been blown out of proportion.
When Bungie showed off Marathon gameplay in April, one of the biggest talking points was not just the gunplay or extraction setup, but the stunning cinematic short that came with it. Directed by Oscar-winning artist Alberto Mielgo, the film quickly became a fan favorite, with people praising its style, animation, and how well it set the tone for this Marathon reboot.
Since then, though, Marathon has been dragged into an art theft scandal. Independent artist Fern “Antireal” Hook accused Bungie of using her work without permission in in-game assets for the Closed Alpha build, and Bungie later admitted that a former artist had checked her designs into the project as part of a texture sheet and apologized.
That created a lot of heat around the game’s visuals in general. Now Mielgo has weighed in on a different concern that has been floating around the cinematic itself, making it clear that the cinematic short is not AI generated and that his team did not touch any of the plagiarized material at the center of the controversy.
Alberto Mielgo says the Marathon cinematic short is not AI generated
The new comments come from Alberto Mielgo’s Instagram account, where he posted stills from the Marathon cinematic and addressed people who assumed the film was made with AI tools. In the caption, he pushes back hard on that idea, stressing how many people worked on the project and how long it took.
Mielgo explains that everything in the film was created by human artists and production staff. That includes paintings, animation, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and rendering, all built by a team of 155 people over months of work. He also talks a bit about AI more broadly, saying he does not really know what his overall stance is, but he is sure of one thing: “AI will never take away my (your) urge or joy for making art and painting. That part will never be replaced.”
In his post caption, Mielgo writes:
“I can’t believe we’ve reached a point where I have to clarify this, but here it goes: this is not AI. Hello.
Everything you see in this film: paintings, animations, 2D and 3D work, compositing, and renders done with huge team — 155 incredible people and hell of hours, days, months… Yes, our Achilles’ heel: time.
“I truly love this little film. Many of you ask me what my opinion on AI is… Honestly, I have no idea. But one thing is certain: AI will never take away my (your) urge or joy for making art and painting. That part will never be replaced. (This text was kindly edited with ChatGPT)”
Under that same post, one user asked a question about the earlier art theft controversy around Marathon, bringing up the fact that a number of in-game assets had been found to be stolen and plagiarized, and asking how Mielgo felt about Bungie giving his team stolen work to build on. It now appears that the original comment has been deleted by the person who wrote it, but screenshots of Mielgo’s replies are still circulating.
First, he answered in a short, sharp comment that shows how annoyed he is with the whole discussion. He says what he hates most is spending years working hard on something, only for the final result to be “eclipsed” by what he calls “sphincter smelly press and headline readers.”
“But you know what I hate the most? Working our asses off for years to create something cool, only for it to get eclipsed by sphincter smelly press and headline readers,” Mielgo replied. “Go whistle around.”
In a longer comment directed at the same person, Mielgo then goes into more detail about how he sees the plagiarism story and how it connects to his team.
In a longer follow-up reply to the same user, Mielgo goes deeper on his view of the situation. He accuses the commenter of wanting to stir up controversy and calls them “the whistleblower, the truth seeker.” He says they are wrong and misinformed, and that from what he understands, Bungie accidentally used a texture that was “mostly typos and text, all lost in a wonderful massive creative pipeline.”
He characterizes it as a genuine mistake that has been blown out of proportion by critics and by what he calls “hungry sphincter press.”
He also draws a clear line between that texture issue and the work done on his cinematic short. Mielgo says that none of the text or fonts in question ever reached his team. He goes on to say that the Bungie team he worked with was fantastic, that the work they did before his group was brought in was “f*****g outstanding.”
“I understand that you like to stir up controversy, so here you go: the whistleblower, the truth seeker. This is my account, so here’s how I actually feel: you’re wrong and misinformed,” Mielgo replied. “No assets. As far as I know, Bungie accidentally used a texture, mostly typos and fonts, all lost in a wonderful massive creative pipeline.
“All this ass it was genuinely a mistake, blown out of proportion by people like you and hungry sphincter press. Regardless, to your pseudowistle, none of the text/fonts ever reached our team. The Bungie team is fantastic, and the work they did before us was f****ng outstanding. I loved working with them.”
This new statement lands while Bungie is still trying to steady Marathon after months of bad press and delayed development. The studio has acknowledged art theft, delayed the game out of its original 2025 date, and run a closed technical test with around 80,000 players.
The Game Post has also exclusively reported that Bungie is working on a new ViDoc for Marathon that should arrive soon, which is expected to give players a new look at core systems, visual changes and the current state of the game after these tests.
What do you think about Mielgo’s comments on AI and the art theft controversy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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