Marvel actor video edited to spread India-Pakistan misinformation

Published on May 28, 2025 at 10:15
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

After India and Pakistan entered into a ceasefire on May 10 following days of intense fighting, an altered video circulated online featuring political messages referencing New Delhi's response to the attack in the disputed Kashmir region that sparked the violence. The original clip is unrelated to the conflict and features actor Sebastian Stan unveiling a new Marvel action film.

"Goose Bumps Hats off to this gentleman, now Pakistani must know how ruthless Modiji is," reads an X post published May 13, 2025.

The video in the post, which accumulated more than 2.4 million views, shows a person approaching a bus stop and replacing a poster that reads "Tell Modi" with another that says "I Told Modi."

Indian media reported that, during the April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, a survivor said the gunman told her after killing her husband: "I won’t kill you. Go and tell Modi" (archived link).

Screenshot of the false post taken May 21, 2025

The posts surfaced online after India said it had carried out strikes against "terrorist camps" in Pakistan, which led to four days of fighting before a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals was announced by US President Donald Trump on May 10 (archived links here and here).

India claimed Pakistan backed the militants behind the Pahalgam attack that killed 26, mainly Hindu men -- a charge Islamabad denies.

The same video circulated with similar claims on Facebook and X, but the clip has been digitally altered from Marvel Studios promotional footage.

A reverse image search using the video's keyframes found an unedited version published May 7 on Instagram (archived link).

The caption reads: "#TheNewAvengers, but still #FilmedForIMAX experience #Thunderbolts* in #IMAX now!"

Further keyword searches found the original video published May 5 on X by Marvel Studios with #TheNewAvengers (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the Marvel X post

Originally titled "Thunderbolts*", the latest superhero film from Marvel stars Stan and remained on top of the North American box office in mid-May. The American production company revealed the asterisk in the movie's name referred to the titular ragtag team of antiheroes becoming "The New Avengers" (archived link).

In Marvel's original video, Stan replaces a "Thunderbolts*" poster with one that says: "*The New Avengers" (archived link).

AFP has fact-checked other misinformation about the India-Pakistan conflict here.

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