Marvel has moved to quash speculation that two warriors in the upcoming film Black Panther will be in a lesbian relationship.

The film, due to be released in February 2018, is about T’Challa, the superhero king and protector of African nation Wakanda, who featured in Captain America: Civil War.

Fans had been excited by the prospect of Okoye and Ayo, two of the titular character’s bodyguards, getting together as Ayo and fellow female warrior Aneka do in the comics.

And these hopes were encouraged by reports that an early screening of the film featured Walking Dead star Danai Gurira’s Okoye staring at Ayo flirtatiously as the two danced.

The enthusiasm provoked by this turned to frustration and claims of LGBT erasure after Marvel quickly denied the conclusions drawn by those who watched the scene.

A Marvel spokesperson reached out to clearly state that “the nature of the relationship between Danai Gurira’s Okoye and Florence Kasumba’s Ayo in Black Panther is not a romantic one.”

This sparked a movement around the hashtag #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend, similar to the #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend campaign last May prompted by the release of Captain America: Civil War.

Comic book series World of Wakanda revealed the lesbian relationship last year, when it was released for the first time.

And fans referenced the series, created by famous authors Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay and Yona Harvey, in their complaints.

Their ire was mainly targeted at Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, who in 2015, promised that “in the next decade or sooner” one of its films would feature an LGBT character.

He added at the time: “I’d love it to find an organic, meaningful and natural way for that to happen at some point in the not so distant future.”

Many Marvel supporters pointed out that there are not many more organic ways to include LGBT characters like Ayo than to simply include them with their original sexuality.

y'all deleted the three lesbians from GotG and now include the lesbians in Black Panther but NOT their romance? #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend — a? (@piratesapphics) April 19, 2017

#LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend this is the chance to see openly gay black women in a superhero film and yet it's being erased pic.twitter.com/Mw9N0ne6xi — n. (@mistysknight) April 19, 2017

marvel 2015: lgbtq stories will happen when it's ~organic marvel 2017: adapting Ayo but no room for queer story #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend pic.twitter.com/Y7gsZacbbi — t.r. wexler (@LetsTurnDayGlo) April 19, 2017

Ayo is a CANON SAPPHIC character in comics. This is a chance to have LGBTQ+ rep in MCU & they're trying to erase that #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend pic.twitter.com/LJ70ag1jLU — Best of Marvel (@thebestofmarvel) April 19, 2017

What I say: I'm fine

What I mean :@Marvel #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend and represent me and black lgbt+ fans for once man, It wouldn't hurt anyone — Tan (@SideSpicy) April 21, 2017

A writer saw an interpretation of AyoAneka in MCU's Ayo & Okoye. @Marvel quickly shot it down. Dont ruin this chance. #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend pic.twitter.com/t1pcVP7s4o — ?#LetAyoHaveAGF? (@infinityygem) April 19, 2017

marvel: we want to be faithful to the source material

ayo: canonically gay

marvel: i cant read suddenly i dont know#LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend — angela (@captaindeadpooI) April 19, 2017

World of Wakanda centres on the lesbian relationship between two members of the bodyguards, describing itself as “a love story,” with “tenderness matched only by its brutality.”

However, that relationship is between Ayo and Aneka, with the description asking: “What happens when your nation needs your hearts and minds, but you already gave them to each other?”

Together, the pair are known as the Midnight Angels, but the preview clip of Black Panther begs the question: will Okoye come between them?

This storyline had the potential to be much more interesting than Beauty and the Beast’s Le Fou’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it same-sex dance.

The live-action remake was the first major Disney film to feature an unambiguously gay character, and smashed box office records despite an attempted evangelical boycott.

But in terms of an actual LGBT storyline, it disappointed fans.