Pedro Pascal finds it scary joining the MCU , Entertainment News
Pedro Pascal found it scary joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
After starring in other major franchises like Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman, The Last of Us and Star Wars through The Mandalorian, the 50-year-old actor is set to become a leading figure in the MCU as Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic, though Pascal has admitted doing so is quite the daunting task.
Speaking with Collider, he said: "Each time you step into one, and you feel like this can't be scarier, you find out, 'Oh, this is scarier.'
"Going into Game of Thrones, going into DC, going into Star Wars, and then the entire gaming world that introduced itself like an atom bomb to me. And in the best way, because I learned very, very quickly the incredible medium of storytelling that's happening within gaming."
Even so, the Gladiator II actor added "anchoring" himself to his Fantastic Four co-stars Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach was the "perfect antidote to the fear and to the pressure" of joining such a major cinematic franchise like the MCU.
He said: "The kind of crown, top of the mountain feels like stepping into something like this. That's why the lucky thing is to anchor yourself so completely to a partnership, to your colleagues, to the original kind of authorship of this particular telling of the Fantastic Four - under, you know, basically the best in the business.
"It holds you and really, really can be the perfect antidote to the fear and to the pressure and stuff like that. You just wrap yourself around that."
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the titular team gain extraordinary powers after a cosmic accident during their exploration of outer space.
As they grapple with their new identities, the Fantastic Four must unite to stop a rising threat that could destroy Earth.
Pascal previously admitted playing Mr Fantastic was "really intimidating" because he "really wants to make people happy" with The Fantastic Four: First Steps - which will be released in July.
He explained to Entertainment Weekly: "It was really intimidating. I relied on the people that I was around to hold me to the experience and help get me through it.
"Stepping into something like Game of Thrones and then going into the early days of Netflix with Narcos and then Star Wars and the world of video games with The Last of Us, each time I've felt like I couldn't top how intimidating the last one was.
"They're all scary because you really want to make people happy, especially if it's something that's widely known with particular expectations around it because you want those expectations to be met.
"You also want to be authentic to yourself so that it can be the best that it can be for anybody who wants to be entertained by a story and travel with us into this world."
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AsiaOne
12-06-2025
- AsiaOne
Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement, Entertainment News
LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday (June 11), calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters. The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission "innumerable" copies of characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. Spokespeople for Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in a statement: "We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity, but piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing." NBCUniversal Executive Vice President and General Counsel Kim Harris said the company was suing to "protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content." The film industry trade group Motion Picture Association expressed support for the lawsuit and called for AI companies to respect intellectual property rights. "Strong copyright protection is the backbone of our industry," MPA chairman Charles Rivkin said in a statement. "A balanced approach to AI that both protects intellectual property and embraces responsible, human-centred innovation is critical for maintaining America's global leadership in creative industries." The studios claim in the lawsuit that the San Francisco company rebuffed their request to stop infringing their copyrighted works or, at a minimum, take technological measures to halt the creation of these AI-generated characters. Instead, the studios argue, Midjourney continued to release new versions of its AI image service that boast higher quality infringing images. Midjourney recreates animated images from a typed request, or prompt. In the suit filed by seven corporate entities at the studios that own or control copyrights for the various Disney and Universal Pictures film units, the studios offered examples of Midjourney animations that include Disney characters, such as Yoda wielding a lightsaber, Bart Simpson riding a skateboard, Marvel's Iron Man soaring above the clouds and Pixar's Buzz Lightyear taking flight. The image generator also recreated such Universal characters as How to Train Your Dragon's dragon, Toothless, the green ogre Shrek, and Po from Kung Fu Panda. "By helping itself to plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation — Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism," the suit alleges. "Midjourney's infringement is calculated and wilful," it said. 'Big scrape of the internet' Disney and Universal asked the court for a preliminary injunction, to prevent Midjourney from copying their works, or offering its image- or video-generation service without protections against infringement. The studios also seek unspecified damages. The suit alleges Midjourney used the studios' works to train its image service and generate reproductions of their copyrighted characters. The company, founded in 2021 by David Holz, monetises the service through paid subscriptions and generated US$300 million (S$384 million) in revenue last year, the studios said. [[nid:698128]] This is not the first time Midjourney has been accused of misusing artists' work to train their AI systems. A year ago, a California federal judge found that 10 artists behind a copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and other companies had plausibly argued these AI companies had copied and stored their work on company servers, and could be liable for using it without permission. That ruling allowed the lawsuit over the unauthorised use of images to proceed. It is in the process of litigation. The cases are part of a wave of lawsuits brought by copyright owners including authors, news outlets and record labels against tech companies over their use of copyrighted materials for AI training without permission. In a 2022 interview with Forbes, Midjourney CEO Holz said he built the company's database by performing "a big scrape of the Internet." Asked whether he sought consent of the artists whose work was covered by copyright, he responded, "there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from." [[nid:715516]]
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Straits Times
A ‘bottomless pit of plagiarism': Disney, Universal sue Midjourney for copyright infringement
AI-powered image generator Midjourney is accused of making and distributing without permission 'innumerable' copies of characters such as (from left) Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. PHOTOS: LUCAS FILM, STARHUB, UNIVERSAL PICTURES LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on June 11, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a 'bottomless pit of plagiarism' for its use of the studios' best-known characters. The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission 'innumerable' copies of characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. The studios claim the San Francisco company rebuffed their request to stop infringing their copyrighted works or, at a minimum, take technological measures to halt the creation of these AI-generated characters. Instead, the studios argue, Midjourney continued to release new versions of its AI image service that boast higher quality infringing images. Midjourney recreates animated images from a typed request, or prompt. In the suit filed by seven corporate entities at the studios that own or control copyrights for the various Disney and Universal Pictures film units, the studios offered examples of Midjourney animations that include Disney characters, such as Yoda wielding a lightsaber, Bart Simpson riding a skateboard, Marvel's Iron Man soaring above the clouds and Pixar's Buzz Lightyear taking flight. The image generator also recreated such Universal characters as How To Train Your Dragon's dragon, Toothless, the green ogre Shrek, and Po from Kung Fu Panda. 'By helping itself to plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters - without investing a penny in their creation - Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,' the suit alleges. 'Midjourney's infringement is calculated and willful.' Disney and Universal asked the court for a preliminary injunction, to prevent Midjourney from copying their works, or offering its image- or video-generation service without protections against infringement. The studios also seek unspecified damages. The suit alleges Midjourney used the studios' works to train its image service and generate reproductions of their copyrighted characters. The company, founded in 2021 by David Holz, monetises the service through paid subscriptions and generated US$300 million (S$385 million) in revenue in 2024 alone, the studios said. This is not the first time Midjourney has been accused of misusing artists' work to train their AI systems. A year ago, a California federal judge found that 10 artists behind a copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and other companies had plausibly argued these AI companies had copied and stored their work on company servers, and could be liable for using it without permission. That ruling allowed the lawsuit over the unauthorised use of images to proceed. It is in the process of litigation. In a 2022 interview with Forbes, CEO Holz said he built the company's database by performing "a big scrape of the Internet." Asked whether he sought consent of the artists whose work was covered by copyright, he responded, 'there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from.' REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Straits Times
Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement
FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with displayed \"Disney\" logo is seen on the keyboard in this illustration taken March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters. The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission "innumerable" copies of characters such as Darth Vader from "Star Wars," Elsa from "Frozen," and the Minions from "Despicable Me". The studios claim the San Francisco company rebuffed their request to stop infringing their copyrighted works or, at a minimum, take technological measures to halt the creation of these AI-generated characters. Instead, the studios argue, Midjourney continued to release new versions of its AI image service that boast higher quality infringing images. Midjourney recreates animated images from a typed request, or prompt. In the suit filed by seven corporate entities at the studios that own or control copyrights for the various Disney and Universal Pictures film units, the studios offered examples of Midjourney animations that include Disney characters, such as Yoda wielding a lightsaber, Bart Simpson riding a skateboard, Marvel's Iron Man soaring above the clouds and Pixar's Buzz Lightyear taking flight. The image generator also recreated such Universal characters as "How to Train Your Dragon's" dragon, Toothless, the green ogre "Shrek," and Po from "Kung Fu Panda." "By helping itself to plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters -- without investing a penny in their creation -- Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism," the suit alleges. "Midjourney's infringement is calculated and willful." Disney and Universal asked the court for a preliminary injunction, to prevent Midjourney from copying their works, or offering its image- or video-generation service without protections against infringement. The studios also seek unspecified damages. The suit alleges Midjourney used the studios' works to train its image service and generate reproductions of their copyrighted characters. The company, founded in 2021 by David Holz, monetizes the service through paid subscriptions and generated $300 million in revenue last year alone, the studios said. This is not the first time Midjourney has been accused of misusing artists' work to train their AI systems. A year ago, a California federal judge found that 10 artists behind a copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and other companies had plausibly argued these AI companies had copied and stored their work on company servers, and could be liable for using it without permission. That ruling allowed the lawsuit over the unauthorized use of images to proceed. It is in the process of litigation. In a 2022 interview with Forbes, CEO Holz said he built the company's database by performing "a big scrape of the Internet." Asked whether he sought consent of the artists whose work was covered by copyright, he responded, "there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
