Joe Locke says reaction to ‘camp’ queer Marvel character ‘really annoyed’ him
Joe Locke says these reaction to Teen in Agatha All Along ‘really annoyed’ him (Marvel)
Heartstopper star Joe Locke has revealed that some of the reaction to his queer Marvel character in Agatha All Along “really annoyed” him.
Locke, who rose to fame as Charlie Spring in Netflix’s queer coming-of-age romance opposite Kit Connor’s Nick Nelson, is set to appear alongside Kathryn Hahn, Patti LuPone, Sasheer Zamata and more in Marvel’s upcoming witchy wonder, Agatha All Along.
While the series is a continuation of 2021’s limited series WandaVision, Locke’s character of Teen is a new creation for the spin-off, described as a gay witch’s familiar (companion).
Locke joins Tessa Thompson and Bryan Tyree Henry as one of just three out queer actors portraying out queer characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but speaking to Variety, the 20 year-old has revealed that some of the response to his role “really annoyed” him.
He said that he was frustrated by some reactions to the first glimpse of his character in the trailer, explaining: “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’.”
He continued: “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.”
Locke added: “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!”
Elsewhere in the same interview, Locke revealed that he was encouraged by Marvel to “stay twink-y”, explaining: “I thought you get cast in a Marvel show, you get paid to get really muscly and hench. ‘We want you to stay small and twink-y’ is basically what they said, in a very corporate way.”
Agatha All Along is set to premiere with a double bill on 18 September on Disney+. The remaining seven episodes will air weekly.
