Leading up to the release of Practical Magic 2, we were all hoping this witchy sequel would be even gayer than the gay undertones of the first because, in the source material, Sally Owens’ daughter Antonia is a lesbian. And while there were potentially versions of the movie that expressed that, the final edit left Antonia’s sexuality undetermined. However, Maisie Williams has been sure to tell everyone on the press tour that she knew the source material and regardless of what the final edit revealed, she played Antonia as a “sapphic icon” and that it brought some nuance to certain scenes since it meant Antonia had a different perspective on men than the other women in her family.
This is a shame and not the first time queerness in a book has been watered down or erased altogether in their adaptations. To name a few: Fried Green Tomatoes, The Color Purple, and don’t even get me started on comic book characters that are queer on the page but straight on screen. Studios are cowards and it’s the same reason queer storylines are often cut from animated films, or even single lines in big box office hits that would mean a lot to the queer community but scare the money men. This feels especially egregious in a movie franchise like this, because witches have such a rich queer history and having a film (as so few are) jam-packed with women and to have all of them be straight feels like a waste.
It’s disappointing to say the least, especially in the year 2026, but at least we have people like Maisie making sure we know that SHE knows that the character should have been queer, and that it was unfortunately out of her hands in the end.
Sandra Bullock has said there could be a third Practical Magic in the future, centering on Antonia and Joey King’s Kylie, so fingers crossed the queer lines and scenes don’t end up on the cutting room floor of that one.
Queer News Links: The Sequel
+ Rosie O’Donnell will take over for Rachel Dratch for a two-week run of The Rocky Horror Show
+ The season three finale of Lioness featured the return of a queer character that hasn’t been seen since season one
+ Two-Spirit former professional boxer Kali Reis will play Maxine in the new Resident Evil film
+ Cynthia Erivo calls her one-woman performance run of Dracula “a crazy experience, one unlike any that I’ve ever had in my life before.”
+ Mystique has a wife in the new Wolverine PS5 game
+ The second ever two-woman Dancing with the Stars team was short-lived as bisexual model Sarah Jane Nader and pro Hailey Bills were eliminated on night one
+ Wanda Sykes is celebrating her 18th anniversary with her wife Alex
+ Keke Palmer loves her “little mom group” she met when her son went to his first school
+ Lesbian model and fashion editor Lauren Chan will join the next season of Heated Rivalry
+ I watched Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story so you don’t have to
