Avengers Assemble! How fictional rebels are giving street protests a new face

A protest rally is usually a sea of placards, banners and slogans. But look a little closer, and the crowd may hold some rather unexpected figures: Batman standing among demonstrators, Spider-Man making his way through a march, or Iron Man and the Hulk appearing where one would expect to find political banners and party flags.These are not scenes from a comic-book convention or a film promotion. They are increasingly becoming part of the imagery of street protests. French protester dressed as Hulk during march against pension reforms in Paris in 2023. (Reuters) Across Indian cities, students and other protesters have been turning up in superhero costumes and masks, bringing characters usually associated with cinema screens, comic-book pages and gaming consoles into real-world demonstrations.Images and videos of these appearances have spread widely on social media, drawing attention to a phenomenon that is not only India-specific but is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. In France, costumed figures from superhero films and anime have appeared alongside demonstrators. At the same time, the Straw Hat flag associated with the Japanese series One Piece has travelled to protests in countries including Nepal and Madagascar.What does Batman have to do with a political protest? Or a pirate flag from a Japanese anime with demonstrations thousands of kilometres away from where its story began? And why do characters such as Spider-Man, who have grown up alongside generations of young fans, continue to resonate beyond the screen and comic-book pages? Spiderman took to the Paris streets during protests in October 2026. (Reuters) Quite a bit, it seems.In July, photographs from student-led demonstrations in cities including Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai and Indore showed protesters dressed as Batman, Superman, Hulk and Iron Man, among other pop-culture figures. Spider-Man was particularly visible, with multiple sightings across demonstration sites. In France, too, a protest rally saw young demonstrators use masks of characters including Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man. Captain America fighting on the streets of Chicago at the No Kings rally of June 2025. (Reuters) The imagery returned to the spotlight in October, when Batman masks appeared at an INDIA bloc march in New Delhi demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. Youth Congress workers distributed the masks, while Congress social media messaging drew a comparison between Rahul Gandhi and the caped crusader. Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wearing Batman masks during anti-CEC protests. (Reuters) Meanwhile, the Straw Hat flag associated with Monkey D Luffy, the protagonist of One Piece, has appeared at demonstrations abroad. Other anime characters have also found their way into protest imagery.These are not necessarily expressions of the same political message. But they point to a growing use of popular fiction to communicate ideas about power, justice, freedom and resistance. What makes characters created for imaginary worlds so useful in real-world demonstrations?FROM FICTIONAL WORLDS TO REAL-WORLD CAUSESFictional characters often come with identities that audiences recognise instantly. Batman is associated with justice and confronting corruption. Spider-Man is an ordinary young man taking on extraordinary responsibilities. Darth Vader, by contrast, is one of popular culture's most recognisable images of authoritarian power.These associations do not automatically determine what a character means at a protest. They offer people a familiar visual vocabulary through which to communicate a point.Dr Murchana Kaushik, PhD in Sociology and founder of Sociology Speaks, sees the use of identical masks and characters as an expression of collective identity.“Many together, wearing the same mask, is a reflection of their belief, the same kind of principles, values or ideologies they share. That they are fighting for the same cause or they are raising the same issue together,” she says.It conveys, in her words, “the belief of ‘We are all together in this’.” Students in Serbia demanded ex-president Aleksandar Vucic's removal in their own language. (Reuters) Kaushik cautions against automatically interpreting such imagery as an endorsement of a political party. “This doesn't politically align the students with any party necessarily. It is just that the students' or the GenZ's problem statement is the same as what the opposition is raising their voices about.”A character can therefore become a shared expression of concern rather than a declaration of party allegiance. The distinction matters, particularly when young protesters and political organisations use similar imagery for different purposes.WHY SUPERHEROES MAKE COMPELLING PROTEST SYMBOLSThe attraction of these characters is not simply that they are recognisable or entertaining. Their stories often revolve around conflicts between the powerful and those who challenge them – a theme that can relate with people taking their grievances to the streets.A 2018 study, Marketing, Art and Voices of Dissent, by Georgios Patsiaouras, Anastasia Veneti and William Green examined protest art during Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement. The use of umbrellas acted as a defence against police pepper spray to disperse the crowd during the protests in Hong Kong. (Credits: Reuters) It discussed how familiar cultural figures, including superheroes, were incorporated into protest displays to attract attention and communicate political concerns.A separate 2021 study by Delia Dumitrica, ‘Chuck Norris, Please Help!’: Transnational Cultural Flows in the 2017 Anti-Corruption Protests in Romania, analysed 58 protest signs. It examined how references to popular culture could make political messages more recognisable while acquiring new meanings in a local context. Protesters in Romania dressed as quite a few pop icons, which included Zorro. (Reuters) The connection often begins with the relationship audiences develop with fictional characters, says Shefali Johnson, CEO of Comic Con India.“People may see aspects of themselves in these characters or simply admire the qualities they represent,” she says. Over time, familiar figures become cultural references that people can use to communicate ideas in ways others recognise.Johnson says their appeal comes from a combination of storytelling, character design, the values associated with a character and the communities built around a franchise. That familiarity can extend well beyond the original fan base.For some, a character may represent qualities they admire; for others, the image may carry years of emotional attachment. In a protest setting, those associations can become a way of expressing feelings that are otherwise difficult to put into words. Supporters of the 2014 Anonymous movement wearing Guy Fawkes masks in Los Angeles. (Reuters) Kaushik also points to the vigilance associated with some fictional figures. Characters who watch over communities, challenge injustice or confront powerful forces can become metaphors for people seeking accountability.THE ANIME CONNECTIONThe use of anime imagery makes this relationship particularly visible. Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece follows Luffy and his crew on a journey shaped by friendship, loyalty and freedom, while repeatedly bringing them into conflict with powerful authorities.Its Straw Hat flag – a skull wearing a straw hat – has become recognisable far beyond the series' core audience. Reporting by Le Monde in October 2026 documented its appearance at demonstrations in France, India and other countries, alongside references to series such as Naruto and Dragon Ball. Anti-CEC protesters in Delhi were seen with One Piece references at Jantar Mantar. (Reuters) The flag's significance, however, is not identical everywhere. Some protesters have explicitly connected Luffy's story to freedom and resistance to oppression. Others may recognise the image through the series' global popularity or its circulation on social media. The presence of a flag alone cannot establish what every person carrying it intends to communicate.Johnson points to the themes running through One Piece, including friendship, freedom, loyalty and overcoming challenges.“These are themes that audiences across different age groups and cultures can understand, even without knowing the entire story,” she says. One Piece has emerged the latest face of protests across the globe. (Reuters) A story created in one country can thus become part of the visual language of a demonstration elsewhere. Its themes travel across geographical boundaries, but people interpret the imagery through their own experiences and circumstances.WHEN THE SYMBOL BECOMES BIGGER THAN THE STORYSocial media accelerate this process. An image from one demonstration can circulate internationally, be adopted by another group and acquire a different political association. Familiar characters can also make protest imagery humorous, memorable and easier to share.But virality should not be confused with a universal message. A mask worn as a joke, a costume chosen out of fandom and a flag deliberately carried to express political solidarity may look similar in photographs while serving very different purposes.The Batman example in Delhi demonstrates how a political organisation can consciously connect a fictional hero to a political leader.The use of the One Piece flag elsewhere has, in some cases, been linked by protesters to ideas of freedom and opposition to authority. These are different contexts, not evidence of one coordinated global movement. The One Piece flag has become synonymous with dissent. (Reuters) Fictional characters can offer a common reference point without making everyone who uses them part of the same cause. Their significance lies partly in that flexibility: the story provides the image, but the public setting helps shape its meaning.THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE MASKSuperheroes and anime characters were created for fictional worlds. Yet their stories often revolve around recognisable human conflicts – injustice, loyalty, exclusion, responsibility and the struggle against forces that seem impossible to challenge.A familiar character can compress a complicated emotion into an image people recognise, remember and share. For some, it may be an expression of fandom; for others, a deliberate statement of solidarity or dissent. Sometimes, it may be both.The important question is not simply which fictional character appears at a protest, but who is using it, what they say it represents and how the context shapes its meaning.The character may belong to a fictional universe. The emotion it helps express – and the political meaning people attach to it - belongs to the real world.- Ends