There are major Avengers Endgame spoilers from here: so do not read if you have not seen the film yet. Some fans are extremely upset that Steve Rogers decides to remain in the past and live out his life with Peggy Carter. Why? Isn’t she the love of his love, cruelly torn away from him when he plunged into the ice? Their reunion is hugely romantic and affecting until you start thinking about the logic of it which breaks all the rules Marvel has just tried to establish around time travel. But fans are also frustrated that Steve and Bucky’s friendship is so badly treated in the film – and the use of a song at the end is the final insult.
Steve and Peggy are shown slow dancing to a classic 1940s love song. Fans heard it first when Nick Fury played it while hiding in Steve’s apartment in Winter Soldier.
The Harry James Orchestra recording of It’s Been a Long, Long Time with vocals by Kitty Kallen is a beautiful number, but many fans believe it symbolises Steve and Bucky’s friendship since the song is playing when Winter Soldier attacks the apartment and Cap first sees his long-lost best friend, although he doesn’t realise it at the time.
One fan tweeted: “It’s been a long long time. How dare you let Steve and Peggy dance with this song? That’s Stucky’s song in Captain America 2. DISGUSTING.”
Another added: “It’s Been A Long, Long Time belongs to James Buchanan Barnes and the real Steve Rogers“
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Reactions to the whole dismissal of the bromance have started a hashtag trending as fans protest the shoddy treatment of their favourite pair.
“#notmysteve I just want to say it’s been a long long time is stucky ‘s song!”
“#notmysteve Marvel even stole the song from #stucky Can you just use another song instead of this？I’m sooooo p***ed off when I saw that scene. I even shouted in the cinema even though I know it’s Marvel’s fault and not Steve’s.”
“Bucky Barnes deserved better. Peggy Carter deserved better. Steve Rogers deserved better.”
“It’s unacceptable that you used the song. Marvel really broke my heart.”
Of course, any romantic relationship hopes between the two soldier were unrealistic, but fans still feel the way Steve went back to the past is unacceptable because he would have lived a full life knowing that Bucky was out there being tortured by Hydra.
This new version also means Peggy’s husband and two children have to be erased from time and some fans even feel it reduces her back to the role of movie love interest, rather than an independent icon.
Fans complained: “The Steve Rogers we love would never destroy the life that Peggy built, he would never be selfish in that way and certainly wouldn’t abandon Bucky.”
“Real Steve Rogers wouldn’t do this. He wouldn’t leave Bucky alone. He wouldn’t be so selfish. Peggy was married and had children in the previous movie.”