It: Chapter 2 features a gay couple but don’t celebrate just yet
The follow-up to 2017’s It will feature a gay couple on-screen, but sadly, the chances of a happy ending are slim.
Before you continue reading, note this article is floating (get it) with spoilers.
It: Chapter 2 is set to be released in September 2019 and the cast for the adult version of the Losers Club — the precocious young protagonists introduced in the first film — was confirmed earlier this month. The cast includes Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy.
Alongside the main characters of the upcoming movie, Deadline revealed that the adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel will bring a gay couple from the book to life.
Taylor Frey, known for his roles in The Carrie Diaries and Gossip Girl, will play Don Hagarty, a young gay man in a relationship with Adrian Mellon, played by Xavier Dolan, known for Tom at the Farm, Mommy and Boy Erased.
- The Losers Club will be all grown up in It: Chapter 2, which will be released in September 2019 (Warner Bros.)
Frey and Dolan only have minor roles in the production, but considering a recent GLAAD report on the lack of LGBT representation in Hollywood, we’ll take what we can get.
Sadly, the couple encounters a rather grim fate. While visiting a town fair in Derry, Maine, they are harassed by a group of three homophobic teens.
In the book, a fight breaks out and both men are beaten down. Mellon is thrown off a bridge and eventually bitten and dragged underwater by Pennywise, the demonic presence haunting the town.
- Fans hailed Pennywise a gay ally back in 2017 (Photo: Twitter/ @starkrhodey)
In It, released in 2017, audiences got acquainted (or re-acquainted, depending on whether you read the book or saw the 1990 movie) with the Losers Club, five kids investigating the strange events happening in their town.
Filming on Chapter 2 is set to start this month.
Bill Skarsgård will reprise his role as Pennywise. Last year, the demonic villain had a surprising effect on fans of the remake: They seemed weirdly attracted to Skarsgård’s portrayal of Pennywise.
- Pennywise in It (Warner Bros.)
Upon its release it was noted that the 2017 remake left out some queer scenes that happened in the book, including a sex act between town bullies Patrick Hocksetter and Henry Bowers, and Pennywise chasing after Eddie Kaspbrak offering to “blow” him.
Another controversial scene was cut out from all adaptations of the book. In King’s novel, all the boys leave childhood and enter adulthood by having consensual sex with the only female member of the Losers Club, Beverly.
The 2017 version was criticised for its portrayal of Beverly as a mere object of desire for the boys in need of being rescued.
