Heartstopper‘s mousy heartthrob Joe Locke is moving from a boys’ school in England to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He joins the cast of Agatha: Coven of Chaos in an undisclosed role. This program is a spinoff from WandaVision and that show’s creator, writer, and executive producer, Jac Schaeffer, is returning to craft this series. (Schaeffer also wrote the Black Widow movie.)
Netflix’s popular Heartstopper is based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman. It follows a bullied gay high school student, Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), who develops a crush on the popular, yet friendly, rugby player Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), only to discover that the crush is mutual. Heartstopper was a mainstay in Netflix’s Top Ten for over a month after its debut in April of this year and has been nearly universally acclaimed for its sweet and charming depiction of LGBTQIA+ adolescence. Netflix has already renewed it for two more seasons. This should wrap up Oseman’s entire story as the first season encompassed more than one volume of the graphic novels.
This was Locke’s first acting job! Thanks to the success of Heartstopper, Locke, and Connor, as well as the rest of the cast (not counting the already legendary Olivia Coleman), have jumped into the big leagues. Locke’s move to a Marvel series is proof of that.
WandaVision was the first Disney+ Marvel program and remains the most acclaimed. It was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards and won three for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, Original Music and Lyrics (“It was Agatha all alooooooong…”), and Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour). The show was also nominated and won many other awards from various bodies.
Kathryn Hahn will star, reprising her role as Agatha Harkness, who initially went by the alias “Agnes” before revealing herself as a powerful witch. Another actor from WandaVision, Emma Caulfield Ford, will reprise her role as Dottie, who in the original miniseries, was basically the Queen B of the idyllic suburb of Westview, NJ. It was later revealed that her real name was Sarah Proctor, which appears to be a nod to Elizabeth “Goodie” Proctor, a real-life woman killed in old Salem after being found guilty of being a witch.
Joe Locke is only the third cast member announced, and although his role hasn’t been revealed… oh come on!
He’s totally playing Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, right?! He’s the spitting image of the comic book character! Some artists have already drawn images of Joe as Billy and Kit Connor as his boyfriend (now husband) Hulkling. (I suppose it would be too on the nose to actually cast Connor as Hulking, but we can wish. I mean, like Locke, he pretty much looks exactly like the comic book character, and the pair clearly have irresistible chemistry.)
Wiccan and Hulkling are arguably the most popular queer characters in comics. They’re also founding members of the Young Avengers. It seems increasingly likely that the MCU will introduce this team. Several members including Cassie Lang, Kate Bishop, Eli Bradley, America Chavez, and Young Loki have already popped up. (And Ms. Marvel could possibly also be worked into the mix, even though in the comics, she skipped right to the main Avengers team.)
Billy already has a connection to Agatha, as he was one of the Scarlet Witch and Vision’s sons. Jullian Hilliard portrayed Billy in WandaVision with Jett Klyne as his twin brother Tommy. But both are too young to portray their adolescent versions. (Tommy becomes the hero Speed, another Young Avenger.) Also, technically… in this universe, they don’t exist. Or do they?
We know nothing about the plot of Agatha: Coven of Chaos. It is scheduled to hit Disney+ in the winter of 2023-24. It was announced that WandaVision is getting another spinoff, Vision Quest, focusing on the White Vision that appeared at the end of WandaVision. Paul Bettany will return for that series.
Stay tuned for news about all these Marvel shows as they emerge.
