Last Friday’s second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finally reunited Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes after the premiere kept the title characters apart. And it wasted no time in having a lot of fun with their odd-couple bond. Emphasis on the word couple as, right off the bat, the show is already being accused of queerbaiting, something that’s been levelled at the MCU many times before now.
Previously, a subset of Marvel fans got very angry over the way Steve Rogers and Bucky’s friendship was brushed under the rug in Avengers: Endgame, with many feeling strongly that the characters had been coded as having a romantic attachment to each other. Now, the same thing is starting to happen with Falcon. Episode 2 saw Sam and Bucky forced to attend “couple’s therapy” where they were tasked with intimacy exercises like holding each other’s gazes and sitting in an interlocking position.
You don’t have to dig deep to find the homoerotic undertones here and it stings for some fans who are not impressed with the “very blatant” queerbaiting.
Wandavision proved that the classic family sitcom format wasn’t dead.
The Falcon & The Winter Soldier proved that classic queerbaiting wasn’t dead.
— ⋆✺ mary tales ✺⋆ (@muppetfellow) March 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/wallaceEtc/status/1375972873484046342
Falcon & Winter Soldier is hella queerbaiting us. They literally had them scissor during a couples therapy session this week!! This show is so boring and if they don't kiss by the end I'm gonna set myself on fire.
— Taryn Gomez (@taryngmz) March 27, 2021
Does it still count as queerbaiting when we *know* the characters will never be queer?
Watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, my answer is a resounding Yes. https://t.co/JDFIKvXnv7
— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) March 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/xxiiyu/status/1375519698973036544
https://twitter.com/swordlesbi/status/1375687937459855360
https://twitter.com/SftboiledEggman/status/1375399295957016578
I mean I know Falcon in the Winter Soldier is queerbaiting but it's grade A Marvel queerbaiting so of course I'm lapping that shit up like a tasty valpolicella pic.twitter.com/er0BnSTqnX
— Sylvia 🥖🌹🇵🇸 (@pouvoirdelarue) March 27, 2021
the second ep of falcon and winter soldier was definitely a bit heavy with the queerbaiting but i love the dynamic and banter between bucky and sam so it was fun anyway lol
— ☀️💘 (@jaemjaes) March 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/Moon0nASpoon/status/1376572011326046208
i genuinely wish i could watch falcon and the winter soldier but it kind of sucks ass knowing that my favorite character's plot was ruined because of queerbaiting and he'll never be back lol
— ♡ dave ♡ knightvigilant.bsky.social (@knightvigilant_) March 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/ratvibez/status/1376254840074997765
I am so torn on the Falcon and Winter Soldier series. On the one hand, these two characters who have been horribly underserved in the MCU thus far are finally getting the attention they deserve. But on the other hand, there is extensive, very blatant queerbaiting.
— Amorena, Nina (Any pronouns, I guess) (@AmorenaNobile) March 27, 2021
Of course, there’s a vague possibility that Marvel are genuinely teasing a Sam/Bucky relationship, but it’s pretty unlikely.
https://twitter.com/Moon0nASpoon/status/1376572011326046208
It’s not 2010 anymore, people.
https://twitter.com/Lokenstein/status/1375439630863060994
Marvel fans are holding out hope that the show will supply us with some sort of LGBTQ+ representation, with a few folks wondering if Bucky will come out as bisexual. One line from the premiere, which involved him mentioning seeing a lot of tiger pictures on Tinder, has been interpreted as a possible hint at his sexuality, while it’s also been rumored that the studio is considering going in this direction with the character. However, MCU lovers have been burned too many times before now to get their hopes up.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs its third episode out of six this Friday, April 2nd on Disney Plus.