It’s not clear to me when I first learned about Wiccan and Hulkling, but when I decided to get back into comics in 2022 for the first time since Marvel’s original Civil War event, I started with the boys. One of the first titles I read was Avengers Children’s Crusade, a story that is founded on Billy’s search for the mother he was cosmically separated from, Wanda Maximoff.
The thing about these two is that they are gay. Sure, Billy is the son (kind of) of the Scarlet Witch and Teddy is the half-Skrull, half-Kree emperor that united two empires, but Billy and Teddy, Wiccan and Hulkling, are Marvel’s young, gay poster boys. Sure, Northstar and Kyle got married long before them in a full issue dedicated to the ceremony, but Billy was introduced to readers as the gay kid. He and Teddy got to be in love together as teenagers, well before they grew up and ruled an empire.
I keep saying this whenever I get the chance, but I only need the MCU to last as long as it takes to get an on-screen kiss between Wiccan and Hulkling. I’ve read a ton of their comics just to find the cute moments where they get to be in love. There’s so much gay romance media in the world now, but something about these two existing in my preferred genre is exhilarating.
And this is why I cried at the latest Agatha trailer.
https://youtu.be/VpyzRNzLwAs?si=CuhXvC_XpLAdFPQK
Joe Locke, who looks a lot like Billy Kaplan, has been cast as “Teen” in Disney’s upcoming Agatha All Along. The things we know about “Teen” are that he’s obsessed with Agatha Harkness and that he’s gay.
“Teen” is Billy Kaplan, the son of Wanda, and by some sort of chaotic magic, he exists in real life and not just Wanda’s Westview fantasy land. In the trailer, Agatha asks him who he is, and as he says his name, his mouth is covered, and his lips are tied together. We don’t hear what he says, but we can guess. He’s Billy. I will be very surprised, and very disappointed, honestly, if he’s not.
I have a bad habit of reading negative comments about the MCU on social media, and something I keep seeing about Joe Locke’s portrayal of Billy amounts to homophobia, of both the standard and internalized varieties. In the trailers, Joe is playing up the camp. He gasps with his hand over his mouth. He falls into a corner screaming. He wears thick, messy eyeliner.
And exactly the people you’d expect are mad about this. They’re upset that “he wasn’t this way in the comics” and they’re mad at “guys who make their sexuality their entire personality.” It’s all recycled bullshit built on misogyny, homophobia, and queer respectability politics.
Joe Locke is pissed about these reactions, too. Variety notes that, just like Billy, Joe has been queer and out since he was a young teen. “You can’t ask for authentic casting and then be upset if you have a camp character,” says Joe.
I love that Joe seems to be playing a campier version of Billy. I love queer people, and I love campy gays. And I love that Joe loves them too.
Also! The show is camp! Who seriously heard “Agatha All Along” and saw Katherine Hahn in that WandaVision reveal and didn’t think it was the gayest thing they’d seen in a Marvel project? This is a coven of witches on practical sets chanting a song written by the couple that wrote “Let It Go”. Patti fucking LuPone is in this show. This show is going to be gay as hell, and Billy must be a part of that if he’s going to be there.
And maybe, in a Young Avengers movie or TV show in a few years, I’ll get to see him kiss his big, green boyfriend.
https://matthorton.live/2024/08/29/i-cried-watching-the-agatha-trailer/
#agatha #AgathaAllAlong #disney_ #hulkling #marvel #superheroes #wiccan
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