#arnie roth

[avengerscompound]

Steve Rogers & Arnie Roth

MARVEL UNITED: A PRIDE SPECIAL (2025)

[kristenann]

Arnie, who MCU took and mashed with Bucky. And people still think MCU Bucky was straight

[twilight-good-yall-dumb]

the old barbie movie soundtracks genuinely do not get enough acclaim. Arnie Roth is a fucking genius and we don't talk about it nearly enough for my liking.

[why-i-love-comics]

Marvel United: A Pride Special #1 - "My Buddy" (2025)

written by Anthony Oliveira art by Pablo Collar & Michael Wiggam

[gay-jewish-bucky]

Loving reminder that MCU!Bucky is almost entirely based in a character named Arnie Roth, a gay and Jewish man, who was likely Marvels first named openly gay character. Here are some of the many areas they overlap:

a) grew up with Steve in a vibrant centre of Jewish culture in NYC b) took up boxing and acted as Steve's protector c) took Steve on double dates as a way to hide his sexuality d) served in WWII and was reunited with Steve decades later e) was brainwashed but was saved by Steve's devotion

The creator, comic writer J.M. DeMatteis, was never compensated or credited, even though Arnie (as Bucky) is currently one of Marvel Studio's biggest draws.

While comic!Bucky's identity is absolutely fair game, MCU!Bucky being both gay and Jewish is paramount to having a complete understanding of his arc and character, as well as paramount to keeping the legacy of Arnie Roth alive.

You can make a difference, and so can your friends, in keeping this part of queer history alive and improving LGBT+ representation. The best ways to go about that are:

a) depicting MCU!Bucky as gay and Jewish in your fan works and discussions b) vocally demanding that Marvel Studios properly integrate his identity as gay and Jewish into their official canon c) discussing Arnie Roth and reading his comics and/or creating fan works about him

[comicpolls]

Favourite Civilian: Round One Match Fifteen of Thirty-Two

May Parker

Arnie Roth

Voting ended onApr 12

[brw]

This is primarily an MCU thing so I know damn well these people haven't read these comics properly but I get so deeply frustrated with people who say that because MCU Bucky shares some traits with Arnie Roth, he is canonically gay and Jewish, and I've seen some people go far enough to say that his Jewishness was erased from the MCU. Now, I think if you want to headcanon Bucky as being queer and Jewish, that's fine, but Bucky Barnes in comics has never been portrayed as anything other than a heterosexual, ostensibly WASP American man, and that is just like, the truth of the character. You can headcanon otherwise, but to imply that canon has been anything to the contrary is wrong and it's just really frustrating seeing language be warped this way.

And it's a complete lack of consideration for Arnie Roth's actual character and his actual place in Captain America history. It feels really disrespectful, actually, to only bother reading this character and his era of appearances to back up this reading some random on Tumblr told you was true instead of it having some value or importance to comic history and Captain America comics.

The thing is, even if it was true that MCU Bucky is meant to be Arnie Roth (not true, he's just older than Steve and they know each other pre-serum), it is still an act of erasure. Because even if MCU Bucky is gay and Jewish, which he fundamentally isn't, erasing Arnie Roth to be thin is just gross to me. Arnie Roth is specifically a fat gay Jewish man and making this character thin would be bizarre if it was true.

And the frustrating thing is I understand why MCU fans latch onto Arnie and this comic, because DeMatteis was very invested in writing Arnie in a very particular way, and because DeMatteis as a Jewish writer gave Steve a plethora of Jewish supporting cast members, including Arnie, but also Steve's girlfriend, Bernie, and his landlady. Arnie and Bucky are even contrasted in one scene, when Red Skull is manipulating and torturing Arnie to get at Steve.

But this moment isn't implying these characters as directly comparable. This moment is about Steve's failures, Steve not being able to save his closest friends, and how he holds on to those failures and that guilt and how it is coming roaring back with his failure to save Arnie. Basic reading comprehension here!!!

Let me tell you about Percy Pinkerton in the Howling Commandos. Percy Pinkerton is the English member of the Howling Commandos, introduced around 1962, and he may look familiar to MCU viewers.

Percy Pinkerton is also canonically gay, as revealed by Stan Lee in an interview in the early 2000s.

Despite the fact that there was an opportunity for a gay WW2 character, the MCU writers went down the route of borrowing the name of an unrelated superhero called James Montgomery Falsworth aka Union Jack. Despite the fact that Union Jack was a superhero, and not a member of the Commandos ever, they opted to use his name instead. There is also another Union Jack, named Brian Falsworth, James' son who is canonically gay, who they also could have used as he was active from 1941, but again, the MCU opted not to.

Captain America: The First Avenger had multiple opportunities to show queer characters, and they chose not to do so. The combination of some of Arnie Roth's traits with Bucky is not an act of making Bucky queer and Jewish, it is an act of erasure, just like Percy and Brian were erased when the MCU chose James to be the name of the British Commando.

You can headcanon however you like, I do not have the powers to be stopping you, but do not try to use comics to back up your claims because it is embarrassing and it is based off either lies or a willingful misinterpretation of the text, both of which are ridiculous to me.

[penisparker-2000]

i find the joe russo gay guy in endgame's existence to be funny because it seems less like a try for representation and more like a confirmation that steve isn't homophobic 😭. like lmao ok because like just because he's from the 40s doesn't mean he's homophobic. sure a lot of people in the 40s were but a lot of people in the 40s were also misogynists and it's been shown time and again that Steve like. respects women.

but the funnier thing is that. in the comics, steve rogers has literally been supporting gay rights since the 40s lmao. (however in terms of like, the release time of the comics where he did that, he's still been supporting the gays since 1982.) His childhood best friend in the comics is gay (who bucky in the MCU is also partially based on fun fact). he himself might even be bisexual. like.

like i just find it funny that it feels like they put steve in that scene to confirm that he wasnt homophobic like lmaooo. i wouldn't have assumed he was lol. i wouldve assumed he was bi himself but y'all aren't ready for that