Following the casting of actor Joe Locke in an unrevealed role in Marvel Studios D+ streaming series Agatha: Coven of Chaos, social media seemed divided over just who the Heartstopper star would play. Locke certainly bears an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics’ Young Avenger Billy Kaplan and the description of Locke’s character as gay, male lead with a dark sense of humor and a penchant for being a fanboy fits the character perfectly. However, it wouldn’t be the internet if a little-known and hardly-used character from the comics didn’t suddenly develop a devoted fanbase and so, such a base now exists in support of Locke playing Nicholas Scratch, the adult son of Agatha Harkness. While almost all the evidence available and information from scoopers reliable and otherwise points toward Locke playing Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, the rising Cult of Scratch drones on…until now.
A new report from The Illuminerdi has dealt what should be the poisoned Kool-Aid to the Cult of Scratch, reporting that Maria Dizzia has been cast as a Jewish woman in a recurring role that is being paired with a Jewish man of the same age. While Dizzia’s casting is not new news, she had been reported by trades to be playing one of several witches who are expected to be associated with Kathryn Hahn’s title character.
The casting of two Jewish characters in their 40s should prove the final piece of evidence In the comics, Rebecca and Jeff Kaplan are Reform Jews and the parents of Billy Kaplan who it turns out is the reincarnated soul of Billy Maximoff. As the Illuminerdi report states, while there is no official word from Marvel, the two characters, who are expected to appear in 1-3 episodes, are almost certainly the Kaplans, meaning the series’ lead will indeed by Billy Kaplan and not crusty, musty Nicholas Scratch.
Updating…
Source: The Illuminerdi
