Captain America (Chris Evans) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (Marvel)



Social media has given fans a voice to try to influence the direction of their favorite entertainment franchises, and they’re using it more and more. Twitter chatter gets noticed: Just in recent days, we’ve seen proponents make headlines for their picks to play James Bond (the standout selection: The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson), a push to get Frozen’s Elsa a girlfriend, and now, the #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend movement.

Related: Disney, Paramount, and Warners Flunk GLAAD’s LGBT Report Card

Given that Captain America: Civil War makes it two big-screen outings for Chris Evans’ hero in a row in which he expends most of his energy—to a curious degree, and even at the expense of his friendship with ally Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)—trying to rescue his BFF Bucky (Sebastian Stan), a.k.a., the Winter Soldier. It wasn’t long before this hashtag operation had become a top trending topic, with supporters circulating meme-friendly images to boost their crusade.

#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is needless. He already has Bucky. — SomecallmeJohnny (@Somecallmejon) May 24, 2016

#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend because to be honest, his sexuality isn’t defined in binary terms much, and Steve would approve of all love. — Kevin Ketchum (@Kevin_Ketchum) May 24, 2016

#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend bc your “bro” doesn’t look at you like he wants to kiss you and never let go pic.twitter.com/B0GUxB9pH2 — wiener soldier (@hannibaltrash) May 24, 2016

The trending topic also reflected the tweets of those who found the idea of reinventing Marvel’s all-American do-gooder in this way unacceptable:



#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend is more communities and activist trying to force others into living in their head canon. Piss off. — Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) May 24, 2016

There’s already gay characters in Marvel, celebrate their stories instead of trying to turn characters gay 😕#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend — Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) May 25, 2016

While Frozen’s Idina Menzel has already gone on record about the campaign regarding her Disney blockbuster, Evans has yet to comment on Cap’s potential same-sex future. (And for the record, Evans’ Steve Rogers actually shares a brief kiss with Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter in Civil War.) But Megan Townsend, advocacy group GLAAD’s entertainment media strategist, told AP the online movement shows "It’s getting increasingly difficult to ignore that LGBT people remain almost completely shut out of Hollywood’s big budget comic films that have dominated the box office over the past couple of years.“ To those who object that a Steve Rogers-Bucky romance would not be true to the comics, she pointed out that these are characters in a fictional world, where there’s "room for established characters to have backstories built out that we weren’t aware of.”

Related: The Forgotten Story of Queer Nation’s 1992 Academy Awards Protest

And while this campaign revolves around two men who don’t really exist, GLAAD’s Townsend told AP the discussion does matter in the real world. Inclusion of gay characters on screen in a blockbuster like Captain America: Civil War can affect how the audience thinks about rights issues.

“We’ve met with several activists who have (noted) the power of U.S. media in their country and how the conversations have changed there,” Townsend said. “They really do have an opportunity.”



‘Captain America: Civil War’: Watch the team battle a mind-controlled Bucky:

