At this moment, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made a domestic gross of $4.1 billion. "Star Wars" is slightly less with $3.1 billion. The next six highest grossing franchises are all either fantasy films, superhero extravaganzas, or based off of successful book series'. All of these fit into the category of "geek culture," the ever-growing umbrella word that encompasses all of the things that people made fun of 20 years ago, but are now the most profitable movies on the market.

It is now cool to collect comic books. Trekkies can hold up Vulcan salutes in pride. It is OK to know the name of the band that plays at Jabba's palace in "Return of the Jedi." (It's the Max Rebo Band in case you were wondering.)

Part of the reason these movies are so popular is because they can be an escape from our own world, but we are able to find characters that we relate to. Watching a character like Rey be the most powerful person in the new "Star Wars" movie was empowering for a feminist like me. The introduction of Black Panther in "Captain America: Civil War" is great for African Americans who never saw themselves in any of the big screen superheroes. However, there is one group that still cannot identify: the LGBT+ community.

There are no LGBT+ characters, in any form, currently inhabiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Out of 14 movies, with countless superheroes, villains, sidekicks and love interests, they are all portrayed as heterosexual, showing romantic interest in people of the opposite sex. Likewise is true in the "Star Wars" universe.

" Harry Potter" author, JK Rowling, made a stir in 2007 when she revealed that Dumbledore had always been gay in her mind. There was nothing hinting at this distinction in his sexuality in any of the books or movies, and it is only true to those who believe everything Rowling says (like the ridiculous idea that Hermione and Harry would've worked romantically), so many just dismiss the idea.

"Star Trek Beyond" made headlines this summer when Lt. Sulu was revealed to be a gay man, married with a child. However, that was met with intense media scrutiny for betraying the original character and even worse, a simple kiss between the married couple was cut out of the film.

This heteronormativity can be dangerous to young viewers. By not showing LGBT+ characters with whom they can relate, studios are confusing kids. They might feel that if their hero is only interested in women, they could never be a hero like them if they think they might like men.

There is a trend in "fandom" of insisting that a character is LGBT+ when they are not. For example, if you ask 9 out of 10 people on Tumblr, Captain America is gay and in love with Bucky Barnes, or maybe Iron Man, or the Falcon. And they are very passionate about this. They see a close male friendship and assume Cap must be gay. No one looks at a friend like that. Then when he is given a love interest, they get angry and attack the character, actress, and fans. "How dare they give him a girlfriend? He's shown every indication that he is straight by kissing three different female characters, but I say he's gay! So that's how it has to be."

Captain America is hardly the only example of this, but it is the most popular that I've seen. And I cannot blame people for feeling this way.

We look for mirrors in our media. We want to watch someone go through an experience similar to ours, proving that no matter how badly things seem, they can get better. So when there is no one that we can relate to in our favorite movies, we create them. Maybe people think Captain America is gay because if he can be openly homosexual, they can too.

So if Marvel and other companies want to stop having to remind audiences that their characters are heterosexual, maybe they should start having more LGBT+ characters in their films. If you represent the members of your audience correctly, you won't have to worry about alienating a growing group of people who just want to see heroic versions themselves on the big screen, just with more spandex.