Joe Locke Discusses the Queerness in ‘Agatha All Along’ and Addresses Toxic Marvel Fans: “I’m fully aware that the Marvel fandom is far less nice”
With the upcoming release of Agatha All Along, a continuation of WandaVision and part of the MCU’s trilogy alongside the Vision project, fans are excited to see Agatha Harkness escape her imprisonment and reclaim her powers by walking the Witches’ Road.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, Joe Locke’s character, Billy Kaplan, will play a crucial role in this storyline. He’s expected to be a significant figure in the MCU, both as a key player in Agatha’s quest and due to his potential link to the Scarlet Witch.
Locke recently spoke with Variety about various aspects of the show and revealed that he has already faced some backlash from fans before its release. The Heartstopper star had confirmed a few weeks ago that his character would be gay, staying true to his comic book portrayal. This decision has sparked some controversy, but Locke emphasized that Kaplan’s queerness is not a defining feature of the character.
The show never shies away from his queerness, but it’s not a defining feature of his character. It’s just one layer of him as a person.
Locke also addressed the vocal opinions of Marvel fans, particularly regarding the inclusion of the queer community in Marvel projects:
It was like, ‘Oh, why has Marvel done this campy gay stereotype?’” It really annoyed me because I was like, ‘You can’t ask for authentic casting and then be upset if you have a camp character.’” I’m fully aware that the Marvel fandom is far less nice than the ‘Heartstopper’ fandom. There’s going to be a lot of people that just hate everything about the character and everything about what I’ve done with it, and I just have to be OK with that. Marvel fans are very open with their opinions. But they’re not in a Marvel show, so—” I’m doing the one thing that they really wish they could be doing. Sorry!
Agatha All Along premieres on September 18 with its first two episodes on Disney+. Got any thoughts to share? Drop them in the comments below!
