15 Characters Who Were Almost Going To Be Queer In These Movies And Shows And The Reasons Why It Didn't Explicitly Happen
In 2013, Andrew Garfield notably said he asked Spider-Man producers if his Peter Parker could be bisexual. He even wanted Michael B. Jordan to play MJ.
1.First, in Scooby-Doo (2002), Velma, played by Linda Cardellini, was "explicitly gay" in the original script by writer James Gunn. In 2020, he revealed that Warner Bros. kept "watering it down" until her sexuality was very ambiguous while they filmed. However, in the released version, there was nothing explicit, and then, they gave her a boyfriend in the sequel.
2.Also in Scooby-Doo, the original script made it clear that Fred was either gay or "interested in both parties," according to Sarah Michelle Gellar. She explained, "There was a great line, too, that I'll never forget. Daphne and Fred were having a fight, and I yell at him, 'That ascot makes you look gay!' I slam the door. They cut that, too. I think that was the reason I signed onto the movie."
3.In the Pitch Perfect movies, fans could not help but notice the chemistry between Beca and Chloe. While nothing ever happened on screen — and the studio used the duo to queerbait fans in the marketing for the third movie — Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow reportedly did film a Beca and Chloe kiss that was scrapped.
4.Succession writer Georgia Pritchett said there were conversations about making Cousin Greg gay on the hit TV series. While speaking on a podcast, she said, "I had sort of advocated for Greg to be gay; until last season, he hadn’t really done anything with anyone."
5.In The Color Purple book by Alice Walker, Shug Avery and Celie's sexual relationship is more explicit, however when director Steven Spielberg adapted the book in 1985, he felt including the relationship would make it so the movie wouldn't get a PG-13 rating, so he "softened" those scenes. Notably, they only share a kiss.
6.In Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid was originally going to be bisexual. However, the show's creator Jeff Davis said that plans to make him bisexual ended after he got "push back from the powers that be."
7.While filming A League of Their Own (1992), Rosie O'Donnell always thought her character, Doris, was gay. Namely, during the scene on the bus when Doris talks about feeling like a "strange girl." However, while filming the scene, director Penny Marshall told her to not "do it so gay."
8.In Now and Then (1995), Roberta, who was played by Christina Ricci and Rosie O'Donnell, was gay in the original script. Writer I. Marlene King said, "The script was written, and then we shot [the movie] with the intention of Roberta being gay." However, after it was screened for a test audience, people reportedly "freaked out" when Roberta was Chrissy's gynecologist.
9.There was a conversation about making Chandler gay in Friends if they casted an openly LGBTQ+ actor. Reportedly, co-creator David Crane told the Advocate in 1996, "We didn’t go into this determined that Chandler would be straight. If we had cast a different actor — who was gay — there was the option that we would have taken the character in that direction."
10.In Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, the relationship between Idgie and Ruth is more prominent and their love for each other is clearly stated in the narration. When the book was adapted as Fried Green Tomatoes in 1991, director Jon Avnet said, "I had no interest in going into the bedroom."
11.While working on The Proud Family, executive producer Ralph Farquhar said they had to "use code to talk about if Michael was gay," which obviously changed some storylines where they wanted to explicitly discuss sexuality.
12.In the Archie comics, it's revealed that Jughead is asexual, however that aspect of Jughead's character was never explicitly showcased on Riverdale. Over the course of the show's run, Jughead has notably been in relationships with Betty and Tabitha.
13.In the DC comics, John Constantine is bisexual. However, when NBC brought the character to life in Constantine, producer Daniel Cerone said that his sexuality was not a crucial aspect to the character, so it was omitted in the adaptation.
14.In Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Tessa Thompson filmed a scene where a woman walks out of Valkyrie's bedroom in order to explicitly show her in a relationship with a woman and hint at her bisexuality. Director and writer Taika Waititi reportedly "kept it in the film as long as he could" before it was cut "because it distracted from the scene's vital exposition."
15.And finally, Andrew Garfield suggested to producers that his version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man be bisexual in the third, but ultimately canceled, Amazing Spider-Man. However, after he made those comments, he said he was "put under a lot of pressure to retract that and apologize."
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