New Disney Show The 'Gayest Project Marvel Has Ever Done'

It was just a few short months ago when The Walt Disney Company celebrated the release of its big budget "Star Wars" project, "The Acolyte." "The Acolyte" was supposed to represent a new era of "Star Wars" projects; it was led creatively by a female executive producer, female lead actress and openly presented a desire to incorporate gay and lesbian themes and storylines.

READ: 'Star Wars' Series Actor And Creator Brag New Show Is Super Gay

Ratings for "The Acolyte" were so bad that Disney canceled the show after its first season. Audiences hated it; the viewer score on Rotten Tomatoes dropped to 13 percent at one point. Presumably, Disney and its associated companies and brands would have learned from experience with "The Acolyte." Incorporate whatever messages and themes you want into your projects, but understand that you might be potentially limiting your audience when you do so.

Disney has not learned. 

Disney recently held a premiere for the upcoming Disney+/Marvel show "Agatha All Along," and some of the cast spoke to Variety about the show and its themes. The Variety reporter described it as "the gayest project Marvel has ever done," and asked actress Sasheer Zamata if she agreed with that assessment. "I would agree with that, yeah," she said. "You'll see, you'll see when you watch it. But you know, I think witches are queer inherently just because we are outcast and like, set aside for many reasons and I think this show shows a really good representation of different types of people and that we can all use the power we have within to like, go forth and be great." 

LOS ANGELES - Aubrey Plaza attends the Special Launch Event for Marvel Television's "Agatha All Along" at El Capitan Theatre on September 16, 2024. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Disney And Marvel Don't Seem to Have Learned Much

Aubrey Plaza, another one of the show's stars, said "that's what I signed up for," when asked if it was the "gayest Marvel project yet."

At some point, you have to wonder if the executives at Disney and Marvel are purposefully trying to tank their own company's work. 

It's now been years of Hollywood attempting to prioritize a progressive audience with its content. Only to repeatedly learn that that audience is virtually nonexistent. Instead of learning from those mistakes and revising their projects, they double down. And are stunned, as with "The Acolyte," when it fails.

"Agatha All Along" has now told its potential audience what its intentions are. And in doing so, likely made that potential audience a lot smaller than it was a few days ago.