Netflix Heartstopper vs. Comic Heartstopper

As someone who has read through the Heartstopper comic more than a couple of times, I was beyond excited to hear there would be a Netflix adaptation. Well, excited and a bit trepidatious. Because we all know not all Netflix adaptations are created equal and I wanted this precious story to be represented well. I don’t know if you’ve heard all the hype (if you’re reading this, you’re probably sorting through the hype), but the show has done amazingly well in its first week of release! Which I am so excited about! So I wanted to talk about the show and some of the key differences from the comic for those who are worried it might deviate too much and are wondering if they want to give it a try.

First of all, I have to compliment the casting choices for this show. Kit Connor and Joe Locke absolutely ARE Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring. And considering Joe Locke is apparently relatively new when it comes to acting, I was blown away by his performance. I was also immensely pleased that they cast Yasmin Finney, a trans person of color, to play the beautiful and kind Elle Argent, who is trans in the story. Real representation for the win! Those aren’t the only actors and actresses who blew it out of the water, but if I gush the entire article about casting decisions then you will probably click away and I have so much more to say! The key takeaway is this: despite not being budgeted for any huge names when casting and despite having to live up to some extremely loveable characters, the Netflix adaptation knocks it out of the park.

Now, I won’t deny that the show has quite a few differences from the comic. I felt reassured when I heard that Alice Oseman, the original author, was going to write the screenplay, but I was still unsure of just how close to the source material she would stick or how true to character everyone would stay. I’ve been burned by more than a couple anime live action adaptations and always wait to see before getting too excited.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Alice Oseman stated that, “Most people don't realise that in comics there isn't a lot of space because it's drawings and not prose, so you really can't put a lot of story in there. In the show, however, we had a lot more room to do what we wanted to.” And I feel that the adaptation, despite the changes, did expand on the story and the side characters in a way that still felt true to the heart of the story and characters. This was obviously helped by the fact that the creator herself was the one writing the screenplay and she knows her own work best, and I am really grateful that was the case. But for those of you still wondering just what, exactly, was so different about the comic and the live action adaptation, I’m going to go into that now.

One of the first major differences was the absence, replacement, or lack of screentime for some characters. For example, Aled, one of the main members of Charlie’s friend group and star of Oseman’s Radio Silence, is not in the show. Instead, he’s replaced by a character named Isaac. In one of her tweets, Oseman explains that she didn’t want to include Aled in the show because she wouldn’t be able to include as much of his story as she felt he deserved. In other words, she wouldn’t have been able to do Aled the justice he deserved as his own unique character. And I think that’s a respectable reason, though Aled was missed. I had decided to dive into the show without reading any reviews or finding out any differences, hoping to avoid any preconceived biases. So I was definitely confused when they called this character who was clearly standing in for Aled, Isaac. But I also thought Isaac wound up being a solid character and friend, and am pleased there is now another character we could potentially learn more about and see grow within Oseman’s universe. His knowing looks, teasing, and support of his friends made me want to protect Isaac at all costs. Plus, I would love a list of books that he was reading throughout the show, as he is portrayed with a book in his hands at almost all times.

Charlie’s family (besides Tori) also play a smaller role in the adaptation - I can only recall seeing his mother once and I don’t believe his little brother made an appearance at all. Charlie’s father is shown driving him to and from some get-togethers and offering him a safe and easy exit should anything go wrong, as he does in the comic. I’m happy we did get to see Tori, as I am a big sister myself and always enjoyed her appearances in the comic, though she always seems to be drinking something in the show? And there is a bit of a running gag where she just shows up out of nowhere. But ultimately she is still there for her brother which I feel is important.

Another main difference is the addition of a bit of a love triangle. I say a bit because the poor girl had no real chance, as we all know. Imogen, a girl who has been friends with Nick since seventh grade and has a crush on him, is a character who was added to the show who asks Nick out. At first I was skeptical, as I always am with love triangles because I know that someone is going to wind up hurt in the end. And love triangles are often, in my opinion, overused as a way to just add some extra drama where there doesn’t necessarily need to be any. But in this case, it gives Tao more of a reason to be wary of Nick and to want to interfere with Charlie’s feelings. It also causes some interesting drama by giving Nick a kind of out. He could go out with this girl that all his friends are expecting him to get with and not have to worry about the confusing feelings for Charlie and continue the kind of half life he’s been leading. Or he could own up to everything. It also shows us some good examples of Nick being a precious bean who doesn’t want to hurt anyone. So despite my general wariness when it comes to love triangles, I think it was handled well.

A third difference is the expansion of the story of some of the side characters. We get to see a lot more of Tao, Elle, Darcy, and Tara than we do in the comic. We get to see Elle’s experiences at Higgs, including her fear of putting herself out there and her experiences once she makes friends with Darcy and Tara. We get to see a little more of what Tara experiences after officially coming out as a lesbian - both good and bad. We also get more of a look into Tao’s personality and both his jealousy of his precious friends and why he worries so much about them. I loved all of these characters in the comic and was happy that even if some of their interactions were changed, it still felt like them and in fact, felt like we got even more of them.

A final difference (not the final, but the last major one I plan on going into in this article) is the absence of the Paris trip. Now I can totally understand why this wasn’t something they either had the budget for or screen time to dedicate. But it obviously affects the story. Instead of getting to know about Mr. Ajayi, the art teacher, during the trip, he is shown as a teacher who has helped Charlie during his bullying with both a safe space and advice from a fellow gay male. I really enjoyed his side story with Mr. Farouk in the comic, but understand why they didn’t have a chance to include it in the rest of the show - especially without the trip to bring them together. I am thankful that they at least gave him a good role in Charlie’s life.

Another thing is without the Paris trip where Nick ends up coming out (not to the school as a whole, but to more than just their group of friends) in the comic, they had to make another opportunity for him to do so. I won’t give away what happens, because you should watch it if you want to see, but I think they handle it pretty well. And because it’s not on the Paris trip, the major trigger isn’t Charlie being teased (and getting asked in truth or dare) about a hickey, but because Charlie is doubting whether their relationship is a good thing for Nick. Which is different, but very much a Charlie thing to do. There is no doubt in my mind if things had gone a bit differently, that Charlie would have tried to give Nick an opportunity to break apart in order to keep him from having to go through everything he went through.

These aren’t the entirety of the differences in the show, but enough to let you decide whether it’s something you want to dive into or if you’d rather stick to the comic itself. I will say that I am hard to please when it comes to adaptations and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one even with all the changes. It certainly made a difference that Alice Oseman got to do the screenplay and I doubt it would have all felt as true to the heart of things if she hadn’t been able to do that. I’m glad that I gave it a shot and will probably be re-watching and re-reading both soon.