Starz is preparing to release impending comedy series Now Apocalypse next year, W Magazine reports. Produced by Steven Soderbergh, the surrealistic show will feature boyfriends Ulysses (played by Avan Jogia) and Gabriel (played by Tyler Posey), and this is the on-screen same-sex coupledom that we needed in our lives.
Variety notes that the series will focus on Ulysses and his friend groups’ relationships and rise to fame. Now Apocalypse’s plot might bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction, seeing as Seventeen adds that Ulysses begins to envision some apocalyptic nightmares that fuel the show’s antic. Albeit Ulysses’ dreams can drive the comedic in the show, Ulysses and Gabriel’s relationship (and Jogia and Posey’s subsequent role in the portrayal) can be seriously impactful to viewers.
Tyler Posey and Avan Jogia to play boyfriends in upcoming comedy series from Starz, ‘Now Apocalypse.’ pic.twitter.com/RdGKNCy7i2
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 20, 2018
Though there are a myriad of list-worthy same-sex couples in films and tv shows, on-screen men in same-sex relationships are still underrepresented in the entertainment industry. Of the cinematic men who opening love other men, few productions showcase a respectful representation of what it’s like for a man to be in a healthy relationship with another man—and even fewer productions highlight on-screen men of color who are in same-sex relationships. (After all, white men aren’t the only ones who are in LGBTQ+ relationships.)
Ulysses and Gabriel’s upcoming on-screen romance can help normalize LGBTQ+ couples in a mindful manner, especially since productions often fetishize same-sex relationships between women, white-wash the on-screen LGBTQ+ characters, while simultaneously usually specific sexualities as the punchline for subtle and not-so-subtle jokes. Seeing as Jogia and Posey, two empowering people of color, will portray Ulysses and Gabriel, this (thankfully) inevitable couple will not only dispel heteronormativity in the entertainment industry but it will also show viewers that everyone can prosper in a same-sex relationship. Not to mention, every healthy LGBTQ+ relationship can blossom into a beautiful love story, even if there are metaphorical or literal nightmares looming in the foreground.
Although recent LGBTQ+ characters are helping to destabilize some of the problematic queer tropes in film, Avan Jogia and Tyler Posey’s upcoming on-screen romance can help create necessary and positive representation for same-sex relationships.