fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

, Stucky (also Steve/Bucky or Bucky/Steve) is the pairing of

Steve Rogers Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

(Captain America) and James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes (the Winter Soldier), fictional characters who appear in

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

and related media produced by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

. The pairing is a manifestation of

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ex ...

, a phenomenon in fandom wherein individuals create

fan works Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and review literature), ...

that depict a romantic or sexual relationship between two characters whose relationship in the source material is typically neither romantic nor sexual; Stucky is an example of

slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

, a genre of fan works that focus on same-sex characters. In accordance with shipping naming conventions, Stucky is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsMarvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

(MCU). Several individuals associated with Marvel, including Winter Soldier co-creator

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials ...

, Barnes' actor

Sebastian Stan Sebastian Stan (born August 13, 1982) is a Romanian-American actor. He gained recognition for his role as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise beginning with the film '' Captain America: The First Ave ...

, and MCU director Joe Russo, have commented positively on Stucky, frequently in a context that affirms Rogers' and Barnes' canonical heterosexuality while offering support for the broader Stucky fandom. Critics and commentators have used the popularity of Stucky in fandom to remark on a range of topics, including the lack of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

characters in

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, adventu ...

s and the nature of fandom on social media.

Background

Marvel Comics

and

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared ...

first appeared in ''

Captain America Comics Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'' #1 (March 1941), which establishes Rogers as Captain America and Barnes as his teenaged

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

. Barnes would be killed in 1948 and would not re-appear until ''Captain America'' (vol. 5) in 2005, where the character is brought back from his previous apparent death as the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed assassin. As a result of Barnes' extended absence from comics, and Rogers's initial characterization as a much older

paternal A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...

figure to Barnes, the emergence of Stucky as a phenomenon in

is a relatively recent development. In early Marvel fandom communities focused on

(

that depict a romantic or sexual relationships between two characters whose relationship in the source material is typically neither romantic nor sexual, also known as a "ship") and

slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...

(shipping fan works featuring characters of the same sex), Rogers was most commonly depicted with Tony Stark / Iron Man in a pairing typically abbreviated as "Stony" or "Superhusbands". While hero-and-sidekick relationships in comics have been interpreted as having a

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

subtext, in Marvel

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

, the relationship between Rogers and Barnes is strictly platonic, and is not depicted as sexual or romantic. Rogers and Barnes are depicted in-canon as having a deep and meaningful personal bond, with some critics likening their relationship as wartime compatriots to

Achilles and Patroclus The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. Its exact nature—whether homosexual, a non-sexual deep friendship, or something else entirely—has been a subject of dispute in bot ...

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The popularity of Stucky as a ship in fandom rose substantially following the introduction of Rogers and Barnes to the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

(MCU) media franchise, where the characters have jointly appeared in five films – '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011), '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014), '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019) – and the television series '' What If...?'' (2021). The MCU re-conceptualizes the nature of their relationship, presenting them as same-age lifelong best friends and establishes their bond as a key plot element and mutual character motivation. As a result, a shipping fandom developed in reaction to a supposed homoerotic subtext to Rogers' and Barnes' relationship. The ship name "Stucky", a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsblends the names "Steve" and "Bucky", became the name for the ship in accordance with shipping naming conventions. Across the ''Captain America'' trilogy of films, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw of ''

The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometow ...

'' notes that Steve continually "rebel against authority for the sake of Bucky's wellbeing, escalating from disobeying orders in World WarII to becoming an international fugitive in ''Civil War''". The relationship serves as the driving plot to ''The Winter Soldier'', where Bucky's memory of Steve causes him to overcome his conditioning as a brainwashed assassin; Bucky recalls his identity through Steve's declaration of "I'm with you till the end of the line", a phrase repeated by Rogers and Barnes throughout the series as an expression of kinship. ''Civil War'' again depicts their relationship as a central plot element, Rogers protecting Barnes after he is wrongly accused of committing a terrorist act, while also developing

Sharon Carter Sharon Carter (also known as Agent 13) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a secret agent, an ex-field agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury, and a love interest of ...

as a love interest for Rogers. While Carter has an established history as a canonical love interest for Rogers in the comics, Joanna Robinson wrote in '' Vanity Fair'' that the depiction of Carter was the "one flaw in the otherwise great" film, arguing that the film's kiss between Steve and Sharon exists primarily to "put the nail in the coffin of speculation" around a homoerotic interpretation of Rogers's and Barnes' relationship. Rogers and Barnes appear in the next two films, ''Infinity War'' and ''Endgame'', but less time is spent on their relationship. Robinson and other critics hypothesized that their interactions were minimized to build popularity for Sam Wilson / Falcon as he assumes the title of Captain America, and to emphasize the canonical love story between Rogers and

Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kir ...

Analysis and impact

Stucky as a phenomenon in fandom emerged from online communities that produce fan works. These online communities are typically mostly female, in contrast to the majority male mainstream comics fandom. Fan works featuring Stucky, which have been created in a wide range of media, including

fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers t ...

fanfiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, sett ...

, and fan videos, typically give prominence to emotional imagery and romantic subject material, as opposed to the action- and conflict-centered narratives of Marvel's comic and film source material. Stucky fan works thus "realize all the un-filmed narrative moments that fans want to see", with depictions of Rogers's and Barnes' domestic life in 1940s New Yorklargely unexplored in canonical source materialbeing a common trope in Stucky fan works. These works are often faithful to the real-world history of pre-war gay culture in New York City; ''Gay New York'', a sociological text by

historian

George Chauncey George Chauncey (born 1954) is a professor of history at Columbia University. He is best known as the author of '' Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940'' (1994). Life and works Chauncey re ...

, has been used by some fan creators to accurately depict aspects of this history, including real-life period-specific

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) clientele; the term '' gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once serv ...

s that existed in Rogers's canonical Brooklyn neighborhood.

Francesca Coppa Francesca Coppa (born March 26, 1970) is an American scholar whose research has encompassed British drama, performance studies and fan studies. In English literature, she is known for her work on the British writer Joe Orton; she edited several o ...

argues that the Stucky fandom is the result of a "complex mix of

objectification In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of s ...

and identification with these characters", wherein the desire to see sexual or romantic scenarios involving Rogers and Barnes is based in part on sexual or romantic attraction to these characters that fans themselves possess. Coppa goes on to argue that Stucky represents not merely the objectification of two physically attractive male characters, but also the subjectification of Steve Rogers as character, "with fans writing stories that flesh out his politics, his relationships past and present, his religion, and his sexuality". In ''Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence: The Evolution of a National Icon'', author J. Richard Stevens similarly argues that fans of Captain America use the character "to reconstruct and reconfigure cultural significance in their own lives", noting that "throughout the character's history, which contains messages from ultranationalist

jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national int ...

to a critique of the role of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

in the propagation of racism and terrorism, aptain America'snarratives have provoked incredibly articulate responses." In the specific case of Stucky, Coppa notes that the unlikelihood of Marvel's acknowledging a queer reading of Rogers's and Barnes' relationship in canon "means that much fan energy is spent visualizing what a queer superhero relationship might look like". In this regard, Stucky as a phenomenon in shipping is notable in that it devotes significant focus to the characters' imagined gay or bisexual sexual identity, in contrast to slash fan works of the 1970s and 1980s that "distanc dbeloved characters from the stereotypes and even the identity of gayness", opting to instead depict the characters as "sharing a great, transcendent love that eliminated the boundaries of gender". The popularity of Stucky in fandom has been widely commented on by mainstream pop culture and entertainment sources. In

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a ...

's annual rankings of the most popular ships of the year (as measured by number of reblogs), Stucky placed 17th in 2014, 9th in 2015, 8th in 2016, 10th in 2018, 16th in 2019, and 18th in 2020. , over 59,000 Stucky fan works have been published on

Archive of Our Own Archive of Our Own (often shortened to AO3) is a nonprofit open source repository for fanfiction and other fanworks contributed by users. The site was created in 2008 by the Organization for Transformative Works and went into open beta in 200 ...

#GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend

In May 2016,

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

user Jess Salerno tweeted "#givecaptainamericaaboyfriend" in response to a similar

internet campaign Internet activism is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular infor ...

around the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#GiveElsaAGirlfriend, which focused on

Elsa Elsa may refer to: ELSA (acronym) * ELSA Technology, a manufacturer of computer hardware *English Language Skills Assessment * English Longitudinal Study of Ageing *Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects research * European Law Students' Association *E ...

from the 2013 film '' Frozen''. The hashtag became a viral

trending topic Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

on Twitter, and was widely covered by the mainstream press. While the hashtag was ostensibly organized around fans who wished to see Stucky made canon, both it and #GiveElsaAGirlfriend were also broadly concerned with the lack of LGBT characters in media properties owned by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, of which Marvel is a subsidiary. The LGBT rights organization

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portraya ...

commented that the hashtag was "a sign that audiences are eager for significant LGBT characters in their superhero movies". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' cited #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend as an example of how social media has altered the dynamic between creators and audiences, as the medium increases both visibility of fan discussions and the willingness of creators to respond to those discussions. The outlet further commented that #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend "highlights demographic shifts that have yet to be reflected in the texts audiences are responding to", in reference to the popularity of Stucky relative to the lack of LGBT characters in superhero films.

Response from Marvel

Several individuals affiliated with Marvel have commented on Stucky, frequently in a context that affirms Rogers's and Barnes' canonical heterosexuality while offering support for the broader Stucky fandom. Rogers's actor Chris Evans has commented positively on romantic interpretations on Rogers's relationship with Barnes, though he said that "it's just never been part of my approach to the character." When asked about Stucky in a separate interview with '' GQ'', Barnes' actor

similarly responded that "I think it's great. Movies are for people to relate to in whatever way they want," adding that "I don't think of the character that way, though. But there's no right or wrong answer." Evans has also remarked that Barnes is "one of the more precious relationships for Steve Rogers ..it's one of the few relationships that he can identify as anything we would call home," which has been quoted by outlets in the context of their coverage of Stucky. An image from a fan

photo op A photo op (sometimes written as photo opp), short for photograph opportunity (or photo opportunity), is an arranged opportunity to take a photograph of a politician, a celebrity, or a notable event.Wizard World Philadelphia Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as GoEnergy and Wizard World, is a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company started as the holding company for Strato Malmas' interests in the energy business. Gareb Sha ...

posing with

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subcultur ...

ers kissing while dressed as Rogers and Barnes went viral in 2016. Joe Russo, who co-directed four of the five MCU films in which Rogers and Barnes jointly appear, has described their relationship as a love story but also indicated the kind of emotional connection to be that between brothers, later saying that "people have interpreted that relationship all kinds of ways, and it's great to see people argue about it, what that relationship means to them. We will never define it as filmmakers, explicitly, but however people want to interpret it, they can interpret it." Screenwriters

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Christopher Markus (born January 2, 1970) and Stephen McFeely (born February 24, 1970) are American screenwriters and producers. McFeely and Markus were the second and the third most successful screenwriters of all time in terms of U.S. box offic ...

, who jointly wrote the ''Captain America'' film trilogy, ''Infinity War'', and ''Endgame'', though describing the Rogers–Barnes relationship as platonic, likened it to a love story and described the characters as soulmates in the foreword of the trade paperback edition of the comic book series '' Captain America: White''. Other individuals who have remarked positively on Stucky include writers

, who co-created the Winter Soldier with artist

Steve Epting Stephen "Steve" Epting is an American comics artist. He is best known for his work on ''The Avengers'' and ''Captain America'' for Marvel Comics. Early life Epting's influences include Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, Jim Holdaway, Joe Kubert, J ...

, and

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles '' The Flash'', ''Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...

, who remarked in an interview with Marvel regarding his 2016 run on the comic book series ''

Black Widow Black widow may refer to: Spiders * Black widow spider, a common name for some species of spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'' American species * ''Latrodectus apicalis'', the Galapagos black widow * ''Latrodectus curacaviensis'', the South Amer ...

'' that both

and Barnes "have had a crush" on Steve Rogers. A scene in the 2019 comic book ''Gwenpool Strikes Back'' #3 in which

Gwenpool Gwenpool (Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole; colloquial: "GwenPool" or "Pink Slayer") is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property ...

(a character who is aware she is in a comic book) says that Rogers and Barnes "look good together" was interpreted by commentators as a humorous acknowledgement of the Stucky fandom by Marvel.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *