Agatha All Along star Joe Locke recently opened up about the backlash against his casting in the MCU project from toxic fans.
The Heartstopper breakout is set to make his MCU debut in the upcoming WandaVision spinoff as Teen, a mysterious teenage character who accompanies Agatha Harkness on her adventure to The Witches' Road.
There have also been speculations that Locke's Teen might end up being revealed as Billy Kaplan (aka Wiccan). So far, the people involved in the series remained mum on that potential reveal.
Agatha All Along's Joe Locke Hits Back at Toxic MCU Fans
In a recent interview, Locke opened up about the backlash that he's been receiving from toxic MCU fans about his casting in Agatha All Along.
He shared that he has fully accepted the negative responses that he's been getting about his MCU involvement.
"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," he said.
"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!"
Locke also addressed the criticisms against his character being a "campy gay stereotype" when the trailer was released.
"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 said with a shrug.
Unfortunately, backlash from online toxic fans has become a norm when starring in a franchise project, especially when it's not being released yet.
Perhaps a lot of fans' minds will be changed once they see Locke's performance as Teen in the upcoming series and be proven that he is the right casting choice for the role.
The first two episodes of Agatha All Along are set to premiere on Disney+ this September 18.
What do you think of Locke's remarks? Let us know in the comments!
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