Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This pinned post is here to establish some basic guidelines. All of the Media Forum rules
still apply.
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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
Besides, we have the wonderful world of Rule 34 at our disposal. You don't have to look hard to find your favourite superheroes naked with each other. And it's not lacking in LGBT content either.
I think part of the reason certain M/M ships like Steve/Bucky took off as hard with audiences as they did, and not only for reasons like the usual Guy on Guy Is Hot, is because you got a sense of unspoken intimacy between them that Disney-approved pairups aren't usually allowed to have, and I do think that the first two phases were, for their various writing issues which have since gotten polished with time and money, at least better at conveying the human element and implying close bonds between people.
For example, the growth of the Heterosexual Life-Partners relationship Sam and Bucky have in Falcon and Winter Soldier is emphatically the focus of the show, but while their interactions were enjoyable enough, and I don't think it's for lack of effort from their actors, there did seem to be a kind of sterility to their interactions. And that, to me, felt like it was by design from Disney. In contrast, while Zemo's creepiness towards Bucky was definitely pretty squicky, it did imply the kind of intimacy that I felt was lacking from Sam and Bucky for all the focus and overt Homoerotic Subtext they had.
Edited by AlleyOop on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:06:13 AM
Several, but they were definitely one-night-stand instances we weren't really supposed to rally around. Iron Man 3 did have a shower scene between Tony and Pepper that I thought was believable enough, if not amazing character writing. Scott and Hope had some frenzied makeout sessions in their movies that was completely ridiculous and impossible to take seriously because of the whole lack of intimacy issue. And of course the Netflix shows have some sex scenes between Luke Cage and Jessica Jones and Misty Knight that I found completely laughable. So it's definitely not that superhero media is lacking in onscreen sex.
Deadpool also has sex scenes, specifically a sex montage, if that's worth counting.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:10:51 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I know the convo has moved on, but I'd say they're also Nazis in the MCU for all intents and purposes, even if they don't all believe or admit it. They're a splinter faction, but all the horribleness of the Nazis is still there. It's especially clear in Agents of Shield, where an alternate timeline where they won shows them going all in on the worst parts of Nazi ideology. Including finding a new minority to scapegoat and try to eradicate in the form of Inhumans.
They're basically all-purpose Fascists who splintered off from Nazis, allá the infamous "The Spider"
post-war nazi organization.
It's kind of interesting/instructive that Shang Chi and Katy got a lot of praise for having good chemistry, even though the characters are (at least for now) supposed to be Platonic Life-Partners. I think that is a good indication of the lack of romantic relationships (and by extension the lack of sex).
Like it or not, the MCU (and DCCU for the most part) borrow heavily from the Golden and Silver ages of comics, in which the stories aren't particularly edgy or grim and the characters are mostly sexless or at best implied to have done sexual things far, far off the pages. Kissing is as far as any relationship goes.
It's a pretty standard trope for this sort of media because even with PG-13 ratings, everybody knows kids are watching. Nobody wants to rock the boat by grossing them out with anything heavier than "married couple" or "boyfriend/girlfriend", with on-screen interactions never proceeding past first base.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:41:58 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"For the screen or for the comics?
I've seen some of the most sensual writing ever in scenes where characters are fully clothed and never once make physical contact. Intimacy is a lot more than conspicuous T&A and/or boinking. It's about characters sharing an emotional connection.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:43:55 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Very much so. One of the things I really like about Endgame, for example, is the scene with Natasha and Steve where they just talk about their lives and fears. This is really solid character building and is unquestionably intimate, although obviously they aren't about to tear each other's clothes off.
I rarely find myself "missing" overt sexuality in action movies. I'd much rather it fit organically into the story than be shoehorned in to satisfy prurient interests. For example, it really works in Deadpool because Wade and Vanessa bond via sex. It fits the characters and their dynamic.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:52:03 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Sex and romance are stupid. Keep them out of the MCU. As much as I loved the Netflix shows, their sex scenes were the worst, most cringe-inducing part.
Platonic interactions and relationships are infinitely deeper and more interesting.
Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:52:36 AM
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!![]()
I wouldn't go that far. I don't mind if characters develop romantic interests in each other as long as it drives interesting stories and character development, but we don't need to see all the juicy parts on screen unless there's a good reason to include them.
Real people aren't sexless and most of them aren't celibate. Having the story completely ignore these elements makes the characters feel less believable.
Edited by Fighteer on Feb 9th 2022 at 5:00:14 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I don't think showing sex in concept is bad (the precious PG-13 rating aside), it's just that Hollywood is usually bad at it.
But as a lifelong romcom/period romance fan, it's totally possible to write a good and intimate romance without any badonking. The MCU just does not do that. Part of this is subjective (some people see chemistry between actors, others don't), but a lot of it is writing/staging. When Steve and Sharon make out in Civil War, it doesn't feel like a culmination of something they've been building towards, and I don't feel like they would be tearing each other's clothes off offscreen. Bucky, Sam, and Natasha have spent the last two movies developing deeper connections with Steve than Sharon has, but that's only part of it; the whole affair just feels kind of shoehorned. That's what (at least) I mean with 'sterile'.
Edited by Synchronicity on Feb 9th 2022 at 4:08:48 AM
Right, that's the other thing. Hollywood is almost uniformly terrible at writing sex scenes.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I’ve heard the topic come up as part of a larger conversation about how as a whole movies have gotten tamer and less sensual. “Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny
”, it’s said.

Simple solution: have the guys go at it.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"