Victims of bullying unite in 'Avengers: Infinity War' photo project

Avengers assemble!
 By 
Kellen Beck
 on 
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Sometimes a kid needs to feel like a superhero.

Inspired by Avengers: Infinity War, photographer Josh Rossi created a new project that turned kids who have been victims of bullying into superheroes, letting them forget about their daily struggles and feel empowered.

For the project, 15 children got to dress up as their favorite Avengers to unite and fight back against bullying.

The project details each child and the kind of bullying they face, whether because of things they were born with that make them a little different, their ethnicity, their identity, or just being singled out for seemingly no reason at all.

Jackson Bezzant, a.k.a. Captain America, was born with facial deformities that led to name-calling from his peers. Another victim of bullying, Cole Helton, is bullied because he is transgender and was transformed into the character Vision. Jackson Sommers, who became Doctor Strange, was born missing 35 percent of his cerebellum, which makes him move and speak a bit slower than some of his fellow students, and has been the victim of verbal and physical bullying.

According to StopBullying.gov, 28 percent of students in the U.S. between grades 6 and 12 experience bullying in some form and more than 70 percent of students have witnessed bullying at school, the most common place such behavior occurs.

On the project page, Rossi explained that he wanted to do something for victims of bullying after he saw a video that Jackson's dad made about his situation. Rossi reached out to Jackson's father and told him he was doing a new project about bullying before he even fully visualized it.

"The video was so powerful, however, that it sparked a fire in me to help in whatever way I could," Rossi wrote. "Jackson Bezzant would soon become the Captain America of this amazing group of kids."

Rossi has previously worked on projects that turned kids into famous characters, most recently taking inspiration from Justice League to make kids with various conditions into some of DC's biggest heroes.

Find showtimes and theaters for Avengers: Infinity War near you.

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Kellen Beck

Kellen is a science reporter at Mashable, covering space, environmentalism, sustainability, and future tech. Previously, Kellen has covered entertainment, gaming, esports, and consumer tech at Mashable. Follow him on Twitter @Kellenbeck

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