Joe Locke gave this gay movie poster the axe from the 'Agatha All Along' set

Joe Locke in Agatha All Along
Joe Locke in Agatha All Along

Ever since Agatha All Along star Joe Locke admitted that he insisted the show get rid of a movie poster from his character’s bedroom before filming, fans have been dying to know what movie he had a problem with. Now, the mystery is finally solved!

If you watched the delightfully Sapphic Marvel show, you’d know that Locke plays gay superhero Wiccan, whose bedroom is covered in rainbow flag decor, a “Trans Lives Matter” flag — that Locke was involved in including on set — and a poster for the witchy movie Haxan. But before filming began Locke gave one gay movie poster the boot.

In an October interview with The Wrap, the 21-year-old Heartstopper star admitted he asked for one movie poster to be removed from his character’s bedroom set because he said the LGBTQ+ community has “moved on from.”

But what movie did Locke think was outdated? Turns out the young actor had a problem with the gay teen rom-com Love, Simon.

After Agatha All Along’s supervising art director Drew Monahan posted new set images to social media, eagle-eyed fans noticed that a giant Love, Simon movie poster was in the place where the “Trans Lives Matter” flag ended up in the show, with the flag moved down lower.

Locke told the publication that he didn’t think his character would have been a fan of the film.

“There were a few film posters up there that I didn’t necessarily think that he would have watched. I’m not going to name the films... Like, very good representation for that time, but we’ve moved on from that sort of thing,” he explained.

“And so we replaced one of them with the 'Trans Lives Matter' flag,” he said before praising the set dressers and prop department because there was “so much incredible stuff there.”

Locke continued, “But you know, that set was probably one of my favorite sets of all of them, because it’s so witchy, and there’s many candles, and you know, all of the posters.”

It’s not too much of a surprise that the actor had a problem with the Love, Simon poster, considering that people had mixed feelings about it when it was released. On the one hand, having a gay romance on screen was still groundbreaking in 2018, but other LGBTQ+ people felt like the movie catered more to straight audiences than the queer people represented on screen.

But regardless of whether you think Love, Simon is great or cringe, we’re loving the fact that the creators of the show listened to the queer cast member about what their LGBTQ+ character would and wouldn’t like is a huge step in the right direction!