OMFG *major gay excitement*. Fans of Marvel will know that Captain America isn’t just one person (i.e. Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans in the movies) but in fact the shield has changed hands may times over the years.

In much the same way as Spider-Man (take a quick look at Oscar winning animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse for research proposes), Captain America is more of construct than a single character, with various iterations. 

In the brand new comic book series, The United States of Captain America, the latest hero to weird the the shield is gay teenage Aaron Fischer. 

Co-writer Josh Trujillo revealed that the character of Fischer is very much inspired by heroes of the queer community, citing ‘activists, leaders, and everyday folks pushing for a better life.’

Whereas the films are somewhat slow in the uptake, Marvel Comics have had LGBTQI+ characters for a long time, starting with Northstar in 1979 and have always been somewhat synonymous with gay culture.

Captain America companion series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier starts this Friday on Disney+