Cue the animated hearts and fireworks! Viewers who enjoyed seeing young love bloom between Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson on the new Netflix teen romance Heartstopper are in for a treat, because the streamer just announced the series is being brought back for not just one, but two more seasons! There are only so many exclamation points to go around.
The boy-meets-boy story is based on the graphic novels by Alice Oseman, who also serves as creator and writer for the series. The sweet story quickly found a worldwide audience on the streaming site when it premiered in April — reaching the Netflix Top Ten list in 54 countries — and has drawn praise for its LGBTQ+ representation. The streaming service clearly noticed all of the good vibes, and its execs were presumably inspired to keep the love going for even longer than expected.
Heartstopper is a coming-of-age story that stars Joe Locke as Charlie, a young, gay teenager who develops a crush on the presumably straight rugby player Nick (Kit Connor). As a friendship develops between the boys, the sparks fly — literally, through adorable animation — and Nick is set on his own journey of self-discovery. Audiences devoured the first season’s easily bingeable eight half-hour episodes, each one depicting a phase in the boys’ growing relationship, with titles like “Meet,” “Crush,” “Kiss,” etc. And now it sound slike we'll have at least 16 more phases to anticipate.
The series’ LGBTQ+ representation doesn’t end with Nick and Charlie either. Heartstopper also dives into Charlie’s friendships and the complexities of how a budding relationship can change those more platonic dynamics. Charlie’s friends include loyal-as-they-come BFF Tao (William Gao), Issac (Tobie Donovan) and Elle (Yasmin Finney). The latter is trans and recently transferred from their all-boys school to the all-girls school, leaving Tao in particular struggling with not being able to see her every day. We’re also introduced to Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), Elle’s friends at her new school, who are navigating their own relationship. Two more seasons almost definitely means more introductions are on the way.
Audiences and critics seem to agree that Heartstopper is worth the rare two-season renewal. The series holds a perfect 100% Fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 42 reviews, and a 98% Fresh audience score from over 3,200 viewers.
The first season of Heartstopper covered the events of the first two graphic novels in Alice Oseman’s series. Two more volumes remain, with a new one due out in February 2023, TVLine reports. She also has a novel, Solitaire, which focuses on Charlie’s older sister Tori (played in the series by Jenny Walser), so it seems like there’s plenty of source material to keep Heartstopper going as long as Netflix will allow and as long as fans continue to tune in.
This is great for fans of Heartstopper, as well as the streaming service, which could use some good news following Netflix’s recent reported loss of 200,000 subscribers. The unexpected decline in subscriptions ultimately led to 150 people being laid off, mostly on the U.S. side of things. Considering the streaming service is known for cancelling shows after only one season, it's awesome to know we have two more seasons to go before properly worrying again about the show's future.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, Heartstopper is available for streaming with a Netflix subscription, and while we wait to hear when we might see more lovely butterflies-in-your-stomach romance between Charlie and Nick, check out more of the best shows on Netflix, and you can also take a look at our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are premiering soon on TV and streaming.
