Fans Accuse Marvel of AI Thunderbolts Poster (But They Miscounted Bob’s Fingers)

Thunderbolts* has a brand-new poster and fans think it was created by AI. Monday morning brought a surprise drop for the Thunderbolts* trailer. But, after the fans got over how cool the entire thing looked, attention shifted towards “Bob”‘s hand in the new poster. An initial posting of the image showed off Lewis Pullman’s character with six fingers instead of five. This of course sent the Marvel Studios investigators into overdrive trying to analyze the image and see if it could have been AI generated. A lot of the Internet seems to have landed on the theory that it was just a photoshop mistake as there are other irregularities present in the poster composition. (For example, limbs on other characters being in strange groupings that don’t make a ton of sense. But, not in that obvious AI way where something is a dead giveaway.)

Upon further inspection on Twitter, people think that “Bob”‘s sixth finger is actually just the fifth digit clipped by some strange layout choices. Other commenters chimed-in with observations about US Agent, Red Guardian and Ghost’s arms all crossing at strange intersections. Clearly there was some assembling here and maybe someone forgot to label all the layers when they were cleaning it up? A strange case to be sure. But, there’s also a possibility that people aren’t really talking about. What if “Bob” really does have a sixth finger? 

Marvel trailers are notorious for switching up elements from the final movie. The other main fan discussion online about the Thunderbolts* trailer is that Yelena Belova could be on this mission inside of Avengers Tower. Why would all of these anti-heroes or outright villains be turned loose inside the former home of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Could the asset they’ve been charged with eliminating be Pullman’s frankly unassuming “Bob”? Why is this man, dressed like a medical patient mind you, just milling around what one would assume is a classified area. Also, what the heck were those things hanging from the ceiling. Maybe it was just a slight spoiler rather than a case of AI gone wild. May of 2025 will bring more answers.

For Now, Lewis Pullman Is “Bob.”

While a debate over finger-based minutiae continues over on Reddit and other social media platforms, Lewis Pullman’s actual debut as Bob flies under the radar in slightly spectacular fashion. A lot has been made about the casting for the character that a lot of Internet-hardened Marvel fans think is The Sentry. First, it was Steven Yeun tabbed to bring a “mystery character” to life. And, once scheduling conflicts arose, Pullman parked his Top Gun: Maverick jet and climbed aboard Thunderbolts*. As everyone tries to get the actor to talk about his place in Marvel Studios’ upcoming misfits crossover, “Bob” is staying out of the limelight.

But, Pullman knows he’s going to be asked about the movie at some point. He joined Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to tease a little bit about Thunderbolts*. The star still wasn’t giving anything away. But, he did show some admiration for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He knows that this whole operation is absolutely massive and there’s certain things that probably should stay close to the vest. (Those Marvel snipers are out there after all, and they’re probably paying extra attention to him at this point.)

“You know, I think the MCU is always something that I’ve watched and felt like is a beautiful world that is kind of untouchable,” Pullman told the host. “I think there is something about joining that world which is similar to joining television in that whenever somebody joins in, you want it to be as a character you can live in for a long time and an aspect of the world you want to be in.”

Later in the conversation, Horowitz would try his luck again. But, even when confronted with a literal picture of Sentry from the comics, Pullman wasn’t about to have Kevin Feige calling his phone so early in this process. “What a beautiful costume. Look at those locks, my God,” the star smirked. He would also switch gears by talking about how he would want the ability to shapeshift if a “real-life” superpower was on the table. Horowitz just ended up joking about a “confirmation” that Sentry would have those abilities in the movie.

“I haven’t looked into Sentry,” Pullman demured. “First time I’ve heard this name. The Sentry sounds like a snakey, shapeshifter kind of vibe, if you read the comics.”

What do you think is going on with Sentry’s sixth finger? Check out all the pop culture discussion over at @ComicBook!