Fans have long campaigned to have Sebastian Stan‘s Bucky Barnes landing a romantic relationship with his male cohorts such as Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, a harmless common trend with fandom as there is a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in modern superhero projects and fans attempting to couple up various same-sex characters has become a normal thing.
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Variety spoke to future “Captain America 4” star Anthony Mackie about the fan’s excitement of a possible budding romance between Sam and Bucky. Weirdly, Mackie got a little too strangely defensive with his response, and it’s rubbing some people the wrong way and for a good reason.
“So many things are twisted and convoluted. There’s so many things that people latch on to with their own devices to make themselves relevant and rational,” Mackie told Variety when responding to rumors of a romance between Sam and Bucky.
He continued to attempt to differentiate between the pair’s on-screen friendship from fans’ desire to see a romance, “The idea of two guys being friends and loving each other in 2021 is a problem because of the exploitation of homosexuality. It used to be guys can be friends, we can hang out, and it was cool. You would always meet your friends at the bar, you know. You can’t do that anymore because something as pure and beautiful as homosexuality has been exploited by people who are trying to rationalize themselves. So something that’s always been very important to me is showing a sensitive masculine figure. There’s nothing more masculine than being a superhero and flying around and beating people up. But there’s nothing more sensitive than having emotional conversations and a kindred spirit friendship with someone that you care about and love. Sam and Steve had a relationship where they admired, appreciated, and loved each other. Bucky and Sam have a relationship where they learn how to accept, appreciate and love each other. You’d call it a bromance, but it’s literally just two guys who have each other’s backs.”
Not the greatest wording possible, but it’s not like Mackie hasn’t tackled this kind of role before with his “Black Mirror” episode that covered a gay romance with co-star Yahya Abdul-Matten II that was sparked via interactive video games.
I think Mark Hamill responded to this slightly more tactfully during a chat with Oxford Union, “…fans are writing and ask all these questions, ‘I’m bullied in school…I’m afraid to come out.’ They say to me, ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer… If you think Luke is gay, of course, he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.”
Despite Mackie’s comments, Marvel Studios is hoping to improve things as Chloe Zhao‘s “Eternals” will feature a same-sex family with Brian Tyree Henry’s openly gay character Phastos and from the jump, there had been implications from Tessa Thompson that King Valkyrie will be seeking a Queen in “Thor: Love & Thunder.” A start, but many studios could be doing a lot more.