TwitterNever underestimate the power of social media.
Stratford Caldecott, 60, is a huge comic book fan and loves Marvel movies. Unfortunately, due to his advanced prostate cancer, he was too ill to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier in theaters. His daughter Sofie Caldecott started an online campaign to get him a DVD before it's released in August.
Thanks to her efforts, people began posting pictures of themselves appealing to the cast of The Avengers and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. by holding signs and using the hashtag #CapforStrat. Mark Ruffalo was the first star from the movie to participate. "Banner/Hulk for Strat! #CapForStrat," he tweeted Wednesday. The actor, 46, added the caption: "Hang tough Strat! We are pulling for you."
Samuel L. Jackson followed suit that day, tweeting, "Keep fighting and Stay Strong Strat! You can do it!"
Captain America himself took a selfie—his first ever, actually—and tweeted it out Thursday. "Thanks @MarkRuffalo!!!!" Chris Evans tweeted. Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. took a joint selfie Friday, with Downey tweeting, "Thor and Iron Man got your back, Strat." Like Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner does not have a Twitter account—but Ruffalo happily posted a photo on his co-star's behalf.
Other Marvel actors who took #CapforStrat selfies include Chloe Bennet, Brett Dalton, Clark Gregg, Elizabeth Henstridge, Tom Hiddleston, Cobie Smulders and Ming-Na Wen. Only one Avengers star (Scarlett Johansson), one Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star (Iain De Caestecker) and three Captain America stars (Hayley Atwell, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan) have yet to participate in the campaign.
Sofie blogged Friday to publicly acknowledge "how great Christopher Markus and the people at Marvel have been, how great the actors have been, how great the general public have been, and, most importantly, the courage of cancer patients, their families and their doctors and nurses around the world."
"If we all take anything away from all of this, let it be that the world can be a good and gentle place, despite what we often hear to the contrary, and that the kindness of strangers is very real. To all those suffering now, please remember that you are not alone," she wrote. "I will, of course, let you all know how the screening of The Winter Soldier goes–you made it possible for dad to see it, after all!"