Tom Hanks ‘MLK’ Netflix Film Is Not Real, Let’s Explain This AI-generated Hoax And Meme

AI-generated art has progressed a lot over the past year. Inevitably, this has led to some viral hoaxes that use images generated by artificial intelligence. The most recent hoax involves actor Tom Hanks starring in an imaginary Netflix movie about Black, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The "Tom Hanks as MLK on Netflix" hoax adds to a growing meme trend dubbed "Netflix blackwashing parodies," which are created by meme makers or trolls to inspire both humor and outrage about the contentious subject of race swapping in the film and TV industries.

So, how did this hoax start? Who made the original movie poster and what AI system did they use to generate it? Let's explain.

Who Made The 'Tom Hanks As MLK On Netflix' Meme?

The AI-generated Netflix poster in question was first uploaded to Reddit roughly two weeks ago in mid-June. The Redditor who made the image posted it to the /r/Midjourney subreddit, which is a community dedicated to the AI art system Midjourney, responsible for a plethora of AI art that's surfaced over the past year.

How Did The 'Tom Hanks As MLK On Netflix' Hoax Spread?

The original Reddit post gained over 3,000 upvotes in two weeks, however, it didn't become properly viral until a few Twitter users picked up the image more recently, spreading it to the social media platform. In their tweets, they asked, "Is this real?" or simply stated, "Man…" as numerous people expressed their disapproval or disbelief over the imagined Netflix adaption.

Overall, it's plausible that many of these Twitter users knew the image was fake and some of them might've been trying to start a light-hearted hoax that humorously criticized the movie industry's perceived tendency to "race swap," which has become a prominent and contentious topic in recent years (like the Cleopatra controversy earlier this year).

What Are 'AI-generated Hoaxes?'

As stated, since the rise of AI art over the past year, it's become harder and harder to distinguish between what's a real photo and what's an AI-generated image. In 2023 alone, there have already been several hoaxes started by AI art, such as the image of Donald Trump getting arrested, which had a lot of people fooled when the former U.S. President was indicted in March.

A more unserious example is the "Disney Pixar's Wallace" hoax, which centered on an AI-generated poster for an imaginary Pixar movie based on the famous rapper Biggie Smalls. Like the Tom Hanks "MLK" poster, the poster for Pixar's Wallace inspired countless reactions and reposts across social media last month.

As AI art gets more realistic, including the rise of AI videos, AI voices and AI music, reality and imagination will continue to blur — so it's always better to research anything that looks suspicious upon seeing it.

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For the full history of Tom Hanks as MLK on Netflix, be sure to check out our entry on the hoax here for even more information.