A Paramount+ thumbnail for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan shows Captain Kirk in a business suit. Kirk does not wear a business suit in the film, and he is instead shown in Starfleet uniform in the relevant scene. The thumbnail appears to be created by taking a close-up of Kirk’s face from a retinal scan moment and using generative AI to generate a surrounding body and clothing. The resulting hair and body details look artificial, with the original frame cutting off at the forehead. The thumbnail remains visible on the streaming platform, and Paramount has stated it is using technology to transform content.
"Paramount+ looks to have used generative AI to whip up a thumbnail for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, according to a report by Kotaku. The image shows Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner, dressed in a business suit. Kirk never dons a business suit in Wrath of Khan, or any other time throughout Shatner's decades of portraying the character. He did rock a flannel shirt and jeans once during a visit to 1930s Earth."
"Paramount+ wanted to use the image on the left as a poster for the wrath of Khan, so they used everyone's least favorite technology to generate the rest of the image. - Ryan Estrada (@ryanestrada.com) 2026-05-28T23:57:45.992Z"
"Estrada speculates that Paramount+ got attached to that image of Kirk getting a retinal scan and wanted to highlight it further by making it a thumbnail. However, the image from the film is a close-up of Shatner's face, so generative AI was used to place Kirk's head inside of a fake body and put that body in a business suit. His hair also looks very fake and weird as the original frame cuts off at his forehead. Long live AI slop Kirk."
"Kotaku has confirmed that the thumbnail is still on the streaming platform, as have folks throughout the internet. Paramount owner David Ellison recently told that the company is "using technology to transform every single a"
Read at Engadget
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