The Marvel paradox: Agatha All Along (LGBTQ+ edition)
- Panos
- Nov 28, 2024
- 2 min read
We all like to think that we are in the driver’s seat in our lives. But while we are in the quest of finding the perfect co-driver to accompany us throughout our journey called life, we tend to become passengers ourselves, striving for something we might never get. In the 00s, they would call it “the American dream”. Having recently discussed in detail about the huge impact movies can have in our everyday lives, I am here to remind you of how movies (and therefore series) can be a catalyst for global debates regarding social and politically sensitive matters.
Blame it on marketing rules or the altar of attention whores, but Marvel Entertainment decided that being gay is normal and a whole universe without gays is not. I guess there is a first time for everything. And this time had a lot of mouths shut as it slowly killed their dream of a “straight new world”. After all, it takes a lot of gallantry to accept the fact that your fav super hero or villain is queer.
And just like that… a new series was born. I am not referring to any other than Agatha all along, with three gay main characters. I mean... It’s one thing to watch the Heartstopper actor Joe Locke chit chatting with his boyfriend and another one to watch Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) enacting “I kissed a girl and I liked it” with death herself. “What can I say? I like the bad boys” she said. Only it was a girl. The theories that arose from Agatha and Rio’s (Audrey Plaza) relationship were many. Even that she got pregnant “by the lily”... If you know what I mean. The offspring referred as “mum” and “momma” at some point and fans are gossiping already if the father is in fact another mother.
Joe Locke, who plays Teen, explained in Variety: “It’s got many layers and gay is one of them. That’s one of the great things I love about the show [...] Teen is a queer guy on the show [...] But it’s not the driving force, which I think is really great”. Audrey Plaza (known for The White Lotus, Legion, Criminal Minds and many more) also mentioned: “It will be a gay explosion by the end of it”. And it certainly was.
Many fans were disappointed after we found out that Agatha All Along has the lowest budget of any MCU Disney+ series, having cost less than $40M to be produced. Yet Disney+ reported that the show had 9.3 million viewers for its premiere alone. The show also received high ratings like 7.3/10 on IMDb and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Guess the LGBTQ+ theme paid off! HBO's Euphoria paved the way with its strong diversity and we certainly hope MCU continues getting the bricks.
