This is the AI-generated scene from Netflix, and the other series likely to use AI next
Netflix has now tied its financial fate to generative AI, let's see what that looks like
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The man you see gasping in horror in the accompanying image is Ricardo Darín, the lead actor in the new Netflix science fiction series The Eternaut, an adaptation of the 1950s Argentine comic created by Héctor Germán Oesterhelda. He is practicing the new art of acting not to a greenscreen, but to a generative AI (Gen AI) video. If you haven’t seen The Eternaut, you’ve almost certainly heard the chatter around its status as one of the few major streaming TV productions to openly acknowledge the use of Gen AI for at least some of its visual effects.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos made the reveal during the company’s second-quarter earnings presentation last week.
“We leveraged virtual production and AI-powered VFX [for The Eternaut]. And there was a shot in the show that the creators wanted to show building collapsing of Buenos Aires. So our Eyeline team partnered with their creative team,” said Sarandos.
“Using AI-powered tools, they were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed and in fact, that VFX sequence was completed 10x faster than it could have been completed with visual -- traditional VFX tools and workflows. The cost of it just wouldn't have been feasible for a show on that budget. So that sequence actually is the very first GenAI final footage to appear on screen in a Netflix original series or film.”
I’ve registered the surprise from some entertainment insiders, but for those who’ve been paying attention, this AI embrace by Netflix had been long in the making. The company telegraphed its AI-obsession when it posted a job listing paying up to $900,000 for an AI Product Manager in 2023, smack dab in the midst of the brutally long SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes that Hollywood is still recovering from in 2025.
Begun, the Streaming AI series era has
So it’s here. The AI era has come to streaming TV. But what does it look like? Nearly every Hollywood insider has talked about the use of AI in the cult hit Netflix series, but it’s obvious from the lack of details discussed that most haven’t watched it. Admittedly, I initially passed on finishing the series myself. After the first episode, I detected all the telltale signs of a low-budget sci-fi thriller designed to string me along with mostly human drama, and only a smidge of otherworldly tableaus. That might sound cynical, but I’m a bit gunshy after Apple TV+’s Invasion, and Epix/MGM+’s From, both of which took me on largely unsatisfying trips around their would-be preternatural MacGuffin mazes.
To be clear, I’m always up for minimalist, low-budget mind benders like Outer Range (Josh Brolin on Amazon Prime Video) or Silo (Mission: Impossible’s Rebecca Ferguson on Apple TV+), but the Spanish-language, English-subtitled The Eternaut’s slow pace and somewhat dull environs were a challenge. Discovering Gen AI in the series prompted me to rewatch it and give it a more thorough watch.
I won’t spoil the plot for you, but I can at least show you a very non-spoilery treat, which is the AI scene that everyone’s talking about (but not showing you). As Sarandos said, the scene shows a building collapsing. As you can see here, the showrunners kept the footage fairly dark, which I assume helps to obscure any shortcomings or potential uncanny valley artifacts.
The context of the scene is perfect for AI: Salvo (played by Darin) has a chaotic vision of future events unfolding in his mind. One of those visions includes a massive building collapsing on itself. Using Gen AI to construct a dream sequence is in line with the often surreal yet simultaneously realistic outputs possible from commercial Gen AI tools like Runway ML, Sora, and Midjourney. (Google’s Veo 3, on the other hand, leans more toward the hyper-realistic.)
You can now judge for yourself whether the money saved and the visual effects time saved were worth introducing Gen AI into this particular series.
Netflix jumpstarted its Gen AI mission when it acquired veteran effects studio Scanline in 2021. The company had already begun developing a sort of special-ops team called Eyeline Studios, devoted to ever more cutting-edge visual effects techniques. Most notably, Eyeline was focused on virtual productions, similar to those employed by Disney (via Industrial Light & Magic), which utilized real-time LED stage environments, camera tracking, and CGI integration for shows like The Mandalorian.
Keeping an AI on the Bottom Line
With Eyeline focused on Gen AI, and Sarandos touting the cost-saving benefits of the technology, The Eternaut is likely just the first of many productions to get a boost from the new tools. So, where will we see Gen AI crop up next? The most logical place to look is to the production slate at Scanline, which is fundamentally tied to Eyeline’s Gen AI efforts. Now that the Gen AI genie is out of the bottle, and the reactions to its use are perhaps less fiery than some may have expected, it’s reasonable to predict that the combined teams will lean more heavily on Gen AI for its late 2025 to 2026 productions.
Based on Scanline’s upcoming docket of TV series, here’s where we may see Gen AI crop up next:
Client: Amazon Prime Video
Gen V Season 2
The spinoff of the popular Amazon Prime Video series The Boys returns on Sept. 17. The first season suffered the tragic real-world loss of 27-year-old actor Chance Perdomo, a central cast member in the series. Despite his pivotal storyline, his role will not be recast. As for the series, nearly every other scene involves some visual effects display of superpowers, so this show is a good candidate for a light dusting of Gen AI magic.
Client: Apple TV+
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2
Filming for the Godzilla spinoff wrapped on March 18. Apple says the show will be released sometime in late 2025 or early 2026. Even though we see a decent amount of creature effects, Monarch is still one of those shows that does the whole lean-on-the-characters-instead-of-effects dance, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Eyeline inject some Gen AI into this franchise.
Invasion Season 3
You’d think the tie-in of Japanese actors and locales—Tokyo is my second home—would endear me to Invasion, but it just never landed with me. The early alien vagaries were a test of will—just enough not happening that you look to your second screen device and start browsing, after which you realize that this isn’t a series you can pay partial attention to and still follow along. And when we finally got a look at the aliens…well, let’s just say that this is a situation where the powers of Gen AI wouldn’t just be tolerated by traditionalist viewers, but possibly welcomed. The series returns on August 22.
Client (parent company): Netflix
The Witcher Season 4
The sword and sorcery epic, now led by Liam Hemsworth, who takes over for Henry Cavill as Geralt, is very effects-heavy, and could benefit from a budget-relieving assist from Gen AI. A specific release date hasn’t been announced, but Netflix is hinting that it may arrive later this year.
One Piece Season 2
The second season of the adaptation of the Japanese manga by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, is coming back to Netflix in 2026. The wild colors and the whimsical adventure give me the sense that this isn’t necessarily a fit for current Gen AI, but keep an eye out for it nonetheless.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2
I was a huge fan of the original Nickelodeon animated series, and I’m mostly still attempting to convince myself that the 2010 live-action version by M. Night Shyamalan never really happened. So yes, I’m still so scarred that I never got around to watching the 2024 live-action version on Netflix. However, the introduction of Dichen Lachman (from Severance on Apple TV+) to the Season 2 cast is enough to get me to brave this new version. Anyone familiar with the powers displayed in the Avatar series can guess that Gen AI could be a powerful addition to the visual effects palette Eyeline offers. The series is set to return in 2026.
Stranger Things Season 5
The series finale of Stranger Things has finally arrived, and it will begin streaming on Netflix on Nov. 26. A large portion of the series involves fantastical landscapes, painterly scenes of horror that almost don’t seem possible in a live-action series, and plenty of nightmarish imagery. Stranger Things doesn’t “need” Gen AI, but if Eyeline is added to the mix, it will likely deliver something we’ve never seen on screen before.
It might seem like Netflix and its Eyeline unit are rushing Gen AI into a Hollywood that is still barely experimenting with the technology. But as a public company, the bottom line is paramount, so if Gen AI can give Sarandos and his film and TV army fiscal superpowers, he’s all in.
“We were thrilled with the result [of Gen AI on The Eternaut]. And more importantly, the audience was thrilled with the result,” said Sarandos. “So I think these tools are helping creators expand the possibilities of storytelling on screen, and that is endlessly exciting.”
Translation: Netflix is now an AI-driven film and TV production house, get used to it.
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