Wyatt Russell of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” takes part in the Disney+ Showcase at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, California, on Aug. 23, 2019. Image: AFP/Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez
Wyatt Russell has apparently been receiving a lot of hate from some toxic fans because of his role as the new Captain America, John Walker, in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
Some fans, however, rushed to the defense of Russell as they emphasized that the actor is merely playing a fictional antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Reports first broke out in late March that Russell deactivated his social media accounts after getting death threats from fans, screenshots of which also spread online.
It was later confirmed, however, that Russell had no Instagram or Twitter accounts in the first place and that the toxic fans were bullying a fake account.
Regardless, some fans slammed such behavior and made appreciation posts for Russell to drown out the hate for his portrayal of John Walker.
American actor-host Mike Kalinowski, for one, could not believe that Russell was getting such hate for a “made-up character” and asked, “wtf is wrong with people?!?”
Upon learning that Russell had no official social media accounts, Kalinowski noted via Twitter on April 2: “the account was fake social media account for the actor and the site that reported it, retracted their statement about him leaving Twitter, but there are screenshots of the death threats…still disgusting.”
Update: the account was fake social media account for the actor and the site that reported it, retracted their statement about him leaving Twitter, but there are screenshots of the death threats…still disgusting.
— Mike Kalinowski (@MikeKalinowski) April 2, 2021
“[Anyway] Wyatt Russell appreciation post [because] he is a talented actor & doesn’t deserve hate [because] he’s good at making us hate his character!” Twitter user @westviewbarnes, meanwhile, tweeted on March 31.
https://twitter.com/westviewbarnes/status/1377032673533759489
Twitter user @cevanstarshine also tweeted on March 30: “[Normalize] hating on [John Walker] and still supporting [Wyatt Russell].”
normalize hating on john walker and still supporting wyatt russell
— tati (@cevanstarshine) March 29, 2021
Another netizen with the handle @Kazi_Upola echoed the same sentiments, tweeting on April 2, “Hate the character, respect the actor. #WyattRussell”
Hate the character, respect the actor. #WyattRussell pic.twitter.com/B0SQGn0i2l
— Kazi Upola Zaman (@Kazi_Upola) April 2, 2021
“[John Walker] is a character who you might hate/don’t like [Wyatt Russell] is an ACTOR/HUMAN with feelings so sending him death threats and hate is just wrong,” Twitter user @sharonfilm, meanwhile, emphasized on March 21.
“[Also] the hate towards [John Walker] just proves how amazing [Wyatt] is at acting. [He] deserves better,” the netizen added.
john walker is a character who you might hate/don't like wyatt russell is an ACTOR/HUMAN with feelings so sending him death threats and hate is just wrong. also the hate towards john walker just proves how amazing wyatt is at acting. he deserves better
— stell (@cartergloss) March 31, 2021
Many others also tweeted several photos of Russell to show their support as new episodes of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” are released weekly via Disney Plus.
https://twitter.com/lokiunofficial/status/1377041304492912642
https://twitter.com/itisdaviid/status/1377247723171250182
Russell is the son of Hollywood veteran Kurt Russell, who also starred in the MCU as Ego the Living Planet, the Celestial father of Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill. /ra
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