heart stopper brings Alice Oseman’s best-selling graphic novels to the small screen, and the Netflix Series captured the heart of the source material with ease. However, as with any adaptation, some changes are made to the original story. In particular, these five differences between that heart stopper show and books stand out.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Heartstopper TV series and graphic novels.]
1. Isaac and Imogen are not in the Heartstopper books
One of the biggest differences between heart stopper Books and the Netflix Series is the addition of two new characters. Both Isaac (Tobie Donovan) and Imogen (Rhea Norwood) were created just for the TV show.
Isaac is not in Charlie’s (Joe Locke) circle of friends The Graphic Novels by Alice Oseman. In fact, he replaces another character named Aled Last. Aled is the main character in Oseman’s novel radio silence, and he is also a close friend of Charlie’s heart stopper. The show removes him and adds Isaac instead, a decision Oseman explained HELLO!
“Basically, Aled is a character in one of my other books that has his own story, and I decided I wanted to do whatever I wanted with that character, so creating a new character worked,” Oseman said drain.
Plus, there’s no one vying for Nick’s (Kit Connor) attention heart stopper Books. Although his friends encourage him to flirt with girls, Imogen is not one of them. Her inclusion in the Netflix series brings additional excitement to the table. And maybe she’ll get her own story, though heart stopper returns for Season 2.
2. The ‘Heartstopper’ show announces its supporting cast storylines early
Although the heart stopper Graphic novels explore secondary characters like Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney), they only do this in detail in the later installments. The early books mostly focus on the blossoming romance between Charlie and Nick.
Thankfully, the TV show takes its time with multiple storylines, a pleasant change from the source material. The other relationships are given much more emphasis, from Tao and Elle to Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell).
Viewers can see Tara grappling with her sexuality, and they also get a glimpse of the girls’ school that she, Darcy, and Elle attend. These elements add depth to the world heart stopper, and we can’t complain about that.
3. Tao finds out about Charlie and Nick earlier in the series
Just like them heart stopper Show gives her supporting characters more to do early on, Tao also finds out about Charlie and Nick’s relationship earlier than in the books.
Although Charlie still hides his romance from Tao in the graphic novels, his boyfriend discovers that they are dating during a school trip to France. In the TV series, they get into a similar argument over Charlie’s secrecy. However, this happens on the school premises.
Season 1 of the show doesn’t cover the group’s travels, but still made sure to address the friendship dynamic between Charlie and Tao. And hopefully viewers will still be able to see the France trip when heart stopper gets a season 2.
4. Nick’s friends in the Heartstopper books aren’t all bad
Though Nick and Charlie face bullying from some of Nick’s classmates that heart stopper Booksnot everyone makes life difficult for Charlie – a big difference to the show.
In fact, the boys on the rugby team capture their romance pretty quickly in the graphic novels. And while they’re not necessarily as hospitable as Charlie’s friends, they seem okay with Nick and Charlie’s relationship. Nick’s friends even wonder why he hasn’t told them about it and suggest they want to support him but aren’t quite sure how.
With heart stopper The Netflix series introduced a lot of characters in its first few episodes and probably didn’t want to throw too many supporting cast into the mix. Hopefully, Nick’s friendships will get more screen time in Season 2 – and prove that not all his friends are homophobic bullies.
5. Charlie’s little brother is absent from the Netflix series
This difference between the heart stopper Books and the show are insignificant compared to the others, but Charlie’s family dynamic is slightly altered in the Netflix adaptation.
Although his sister Tori (Jenny Walser) gets some moments of shine, the series doesn’t introduce his little brother. It’s unclear if the character doesn’t exist in the adaptation or simply hasn’t introduced him yet. That’s actually the case for several characters, but Oliver should have popped up by now. Hopefully that doesn’t mean he won’t show up later. His interactions with Nick are adorable and definitely worth some screen time.
heart stopper is currently streaming on Netflix.
TIED TOGETHER: Heartstopper: Will there be a second season? Everything we know so far
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