Love, Victor, the television spin-off to the trailblazing movie, Love, Simon. (Hulu)
Disney streaming platform Hulu has officially ordered a second season of its Love, Simon spin-off Love, Victor — and it will take an edgier, more grown-up tone.
Despite a troubled history that saw the show booted off of the “family friendly” streaming platform Disney Plus late into production, the first season of Love, Victor was a hit with fans, topping the Hulu rankings in the US upon its eventual release.
Set at the same high school as Love, Simon, the show stars Michael Cimino as Victor Salazar, a teen who has a decidedly more messy time than Simon struggling with his sexual orientation.
Hulu officially handed a second season to the show this week, though it’s unclear when exactly it will air due to the coronavirus crisis impacting production.
Showrunners Issac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, who also penned the script for Love, Simon, have teased that the second season would be free to address grown-up issues without the constraints of the puritanical content rules on Disney Plus.
Love, Victor season two will be edgier after ‘difficult process’ of leaving Disney Plus.
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast, the pair teased “a more complex story” in Love, Victor season two after breaking out of the Mickey Mouse-branded shackles.
Aptaker explained: “Looking forward, what we’re so excited about being on Hulu, is that we want to tell a show that kind of grows up with his audience.
“Now that we’re on Hulu, there’s really no ceiling to the sort of sophistication and maturity and content that we can have on this show. So we’re in the middle of writing season two right now and, it’s just been so exciting to know that we’re able to just be as honest as we want to be telling stories of what it’s like to be a junior in high school.”
He added of struggles on Disney Plus: “There were certainly moments, particularly with language, and having teenagers talk a bit more how I think teenagers really talk in the world, where were we on Hulu from the beginning, the show would have would have been a bit edgier in its humour.
“But we’re doing it now, so we’re really excited about these new scripts we’re writing, that don’t that don’t have those limitations.”
Berger agreed: “We lost some jokes that hurt [in season one] but we’re really happy for the timing, because as we move into season two, we have some really serious relationships that are forming between our characters, and they’re at that time in life where you fall in love and you have sex potentially with the person you’re in love with.
“I think there’s just a freedom to tell high school stories authentically that we didn’t necessarily feel we had before.”
Love, Simon spin-off will address race and faith, but not coronavirus
The showrunners revealed that the second season of Love, Victor will not include coronavirus in the plot, confirming: “We feel like the show has enough on its plate… do people really want to watch these kids social distancing and zoom high schooling and wearing masks all the time?”
However, the show will address the issue of race in America, through the lens of its diverse characters. Berger said: “We’ve had more conversations in the [writers’] room this year about, what are those conversations about race within this group of friends? I think that is something that our show absolutely can bear, whether or not we’re tying it to current events.”
Aptaker also teased: “This season we’re going to be exploring in greater depth the family’s faith and how that informs their reaction to Victor being gay.”
We’ve been talking to parents from PFLAG, particularly people of faith, and what that struggle is like to reconcile your religion with your love for an LGBTQ child. It’s an incredibly complicated story, and it’s one that I don’t think I’ve seen told on television in the in the way we’re planning to tell it.”