Here's Why Nick Nelson's Coming Out Story on Heartstopper Was Changed

Television is a different beast from comic books.

During a recent interview, Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman told Radio Times why Nick Nelson’s coming-out story changed so much from the original comic books to the hit Netflix series. Played by Kit Connor, the character of Nick instantly became a fan-favorite on the show and had audiences all rooting for him.

“The comics are so low stakes, Oseman started. “When problems arise in the story of the comics they’re solved almost immediately. And that is something that people like about the comics but it doesn’t work for TV because if there’s no drama, people will get bored. So, the big changes that we made were all sort of adding more tension and elongating the character journeys.”

When it comes to Nick’s particular coming-out experience, Oseman explained: “In the show it takes him longer to figure out who he is and feel comfortable with who he is, while in the comics he sort of figures it out quite quickly, and that’s really nice.”

Though these differences exist between the comic books and the TV show, Oseman believes that one doesn’t hurt the other. In the end, the story told in the Netflix series is still “serving the comic,” according to the writer.

Season one of Heartstopper wrapped up with Nick coming out to his mother. As a result, there won’t be as many secrets about the character’s sexuality once the second season picks up the story where it was left off.

Following the success of the first season, Netflix made sure to renew Heartstopper for at least two more seasons – and fans are already eagerly awaiting for what’s next in the series. Besides Connor, most of the season one cast members are set to return, including Joe Locke (Charlie Spring), Yasmin Finney (Elle Argent), and William Gao (Tao Xu).

Rise up, Heartstopper hive! There’s much more to come from this hugely successful queer show on Netflix.

Heartstopper is streaming on Netflix.

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