Joe Locke became a familiar face around the world after playing Charlie Spring in Netflix’s hit teen drama Heartstopper
The series premiered in 2022 and quickly turned Locke into one of the most recognizable young actors of his generation.
His chemistry with Kit Connor and his emotional performance as Charlie made him a fan favorite.
He made his Broadway debut in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and later joined Marvel’s Agatha All Along. In the Marvel series, he eventually revealed himself as Billy Maximoff, also known as Wiccan.
His journey reached another major milestone in 2026 when he won a Children’s & Family Emmy for his performance as Charlie Spring. Meanwhile, Heartstopper Forever brought his time as Charlie to an official close.
So what happened to Joe Locke after Heartstopper? Here is a closer look at his career, Marvel transition, recent achievements and what he is doing now.
Also Read: Britt Barbie Bio: From “Period Ahh” Meme to Internet Creator
Table of Contents
Who Is Joe Locke?
Joe Locke is a British actor from the Isle of Man. He was born on September 24, 2003 and developed an interest in acting while he was still young.1
Before becoming internationally famous, Locke took part in theatre productions and eventually auditioned for Heartstopper.
The open casting process attracted thousands of young performers. Locke ultimately won the role of Charlie Spring.
Heartstopper became his professional screen breakthrough. The Netflix series is based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels and follows Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson as they navigate friendship, love, school life and growing up.
Locke’s Charlie is sensitive and thoughtful but also deals with bullying and difficult personal experiences. Netflix describes Charlie’s story in Season 3 as a more mature chapter in his relationship with Nick.
The season also explored Charlie’s mental health journey and allowed Locke to take on more demanding material. The success of Heartstopper changed Locke’s career almost overnight.
He became internationally known and gained a huge fan following. However, Locke was never interested in remaining known only as Charlie Spring.
In interviews he has spoken about wanting to prove that he could play different kinds of characters. His move into Marvel became an important part of that transition.
What Is Joe Locke Doing Now?
As of 2026, Joe Locke is moving into the next phase of his career. Heartstopper Forever has completed Charlie Spring’s story.
His performance in the series also earned him a Children’s & Family Emmy in 2026. At the same time, his role as Wiccan has opened the door to the wider Marvel universe.
His Broadway experience has also given him another part of his professional identity.
This makes Locke’s career particularly interesting because he has already worked across three very different spaces at a relatively young age:
- Netflix television
- Broadway theatre
- Marvel superhero entertainment
His future projects will determine how far he can move beyond the roles that first made him famous.
2 years ago today, joe locke made his marvel debut as t̶e̶e̶n̶ billy maximoff/wiccan in “agatha all along” pic.twitter.com/YDfGCq6e5P
— daily joe locke (@dailyjlocke) September 18, 2026
Stats Table
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Joe Locke |
| Date of birth | September 24, 2003 |
| Birthplace | Isle of Man |
| Profession | Actor |
| Breakthrough role | Charlie Spring in Heartstopper |
| Screen debut | Heartstopper |
| Marvel role | Billy Maximoff / Wiccan |
| Marvel project | Agatha All Along |
| Broadway role | Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd |
| Theatre debut | The Trials |
| Major 2026 achievement | Children’s & Family Emmy winner |
| Emmy-winning role | Charlie Spring |
| Heartstopper finale | Heartstopper Forever |
| Known for | Television, theatre and Marvel |
Joe Locke and Heartstopper
Joe Locke’s connection with Heartstopper remains one of the biggest parts of his career.2
The first season arrived on Netflix in April 2022 and introduced audiences to Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson. Locke and Kit Connor quickly became closely associated with the show’s central romance.
Charlie was not simply a romantic lead. The character’s story involved bullying, mental health struggles, friendships and the complicated experience of growing up.
Locke’s performance helped make Charlie one of the show’s central figures. The third season gave him some of the most challenging material of his career.
Netflix highlighted Charlie’s mental health journey as one of the major storylines of the season. The role eventually brought Locke an important career achievement.
In March 2026, he won the Children’s & Family Emmy for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Preschool, Children’s or Young Teen Program for playing Charlie Spring.
The official Emmy winners list confirms Locke as the winner for Heartstopper. That award came after Locke had already become a major international star through the series.
Why Did Joe Locke Leave Heartstopper?
Joe Locke did not suddenly quit Heartstopper after becoming successful. Instead, the story reached its planned conclusion.
Netflix released Heartstopper Forever in July 2026 as the feature-length conclusion to the story of Charlie and Nick. Netflix described the movie as the final chapter of the franchise.
This is an important reason why people may now be asking what happened to Joe Locke. For years, searches for his name were closely connected to Charlie Spring.
Now that the character’s story has ended, audiences are seeing Locke in a different stage of his career. In a 2026 interview with Backstage, Locke reflected on saying goodbye to Charlie after several years with the character.
The publication noted that Heartstopper had taken him from a relatively unknown young performer to Broadway and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The end of Heartstopper therefore does not represent the end of Locke’s career. It represents a transition.
Joe Locke’s Move to Broadway
Before becoming a Marvel star, Locke also made an important move into theatre.
In 2024, he joined the Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He played Tobias Ragg in the Stephen Sondheim musical.
The role was significant because it gave Locke the opportunity to show audiences a different side of his abilities. Broadway.com lists Locke among the production’s cast and confirms that the Broadway revival closed on May 5, 2024.
His theatre experience also began before Broadway. Locke made his professional stage debut in The Trials at London’s Donmar Warehouse.
He later won the Best Professional Debut Award at the WhatsOnStage Awards. The move to Broadway showed that Locke was interested in more than television.
It also gave him experience working in a demanding live performance environment. For a young actor who had become famous through a single television role, that was an important career step.
Joe Locke Joins Marvel
The biggest change in Joe Locke’s career came when he joined Marvel. In 2024, Locke appeared in Marvel Television’s Agatha All Along.
The series stars Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and follows a mysterious Teen who becomes connected with Agatha and her coven.
Marvel’s official description introduces Locke’s character simply as Teen and places him at the center of the story involving the Witches’ Road.
At first, Marvel kept his character’s identity secret. Fans quickly began speculating about who Teen could be.
Eventually, the series revealed that Locke was playing Billy Maximoff, also known as Wiccan. Billy is connected to Wanda Maximoff and has a significant place within Marvel Comics.
The reveal gave Locke a completely different type of role from Charlie Spring. Charlie is a grounded teenager dealing with relationships and personal struggles.
Billy is a supernatural character connected to the larger Marvel mythology. This was therefore more than simply another acting job for Locke.
It introduced him to the massive Marvel audience.
Also Read: Chace Crawford Bio: From Gossip Girl to The Boys
Who Is Wiccan?
Wiccan is one of Marvel Comics’ important young characters.3
Billy Maximoff is connected to Wanda Maximoff, better known as the Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Wiccan possesses powerful magical abilities and becomes part of the Young Avengers.
Locke’s casting as Billy was particularly notable because Wiccan is an openly gay superhero. In a 2024 interview with Variety, Locke discussed the significance of playing a queer character in the Marvel universe.
He also explained that he wanted the character’s sexuality to be one part of his personality rather than the only defining feature.
That distinction is important when looking at Locke’s career. Charlie Spring and Billy Maximoff are both queer characters.
But they exist in completely different genres. One belongs to a coming-of-age romance. The other belongs to a supernatural superhero franchise.
Playing both gave Locke an opportunity to show that he could approach very different worlds.
Why the Marvel Role Changed Joe Locke’s Career
Agatha All Along introduced Locke to a much larger franchise audience. Marvel has a global fan base and its projects are connected through a larger cinematic universe.
Joining that world placed Locke alongside established performers such as Kathryn Hahn, Aubrey Plaza and Patti LuPone. The production also gave him experience working on a much larger genre project.
Locke later said that Agatha All Along made him feel like an actor in a different way.
In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, he contrasted the experience with Heartstopper, describing Heartstopper as the project that gave him his dream career and friendships while Agatha All Along made him feel like an actor for the first time.
That difference explains why the Marvel transition matters. He was no longer simply the young actor who played Charlie Spring.
He was now building a career across television, theatre and a major superhero franchise.
What Happened to Joe Locke After Heartstopper?
The simplest answer is that Joe Locke’s career became much bigger. After Heartstopper, he did not vanish from entertainment.
He moved into Broadway and Marvel while continuing to develop his acting career. His path can be viewed in several stages.
First came Heartstopper, which established him as Charlie Spring. Then came theatre, including The Trials and Sweeney Todd.
After that came Agatha All Along, where he entered the Marvel universe as Billy Maximoff/Wiccan.
Finally, Heartstopper Forever gave him the opportunity to close the chapter that originally made him famous.
In 2026, Locke also added an Emmy win to his résumé. That means the question “What happened to Joe Locke?” has a surprisingly straightforward answer.
He grew from a breakout Netflix actor into a performer working across several major entertainment platforms.
Is Joe Locke Still in Heartstopper?
Yes, but his Heartstopper journey has now reached its conclusion.
Locke returned as Charlie Spring for Heartstopper Forever, the feature-length finale released on Netflix in July 2026.
The film reunited Locke with Kit Connor and the rest of the central cast. Netflix describes it as the conclusion of the romance between Charlie and Nick.
For fans who discovered Locke through the series, the film serves as the final chapter of his most famous role.
However, ending Heartstopper does not mean Locke is finished with the entertainment industry.
It means he can now continue building his identity outside Charlie.
Joe Locke’s Relationship With Charlie Spring
Charlie Spring will probably remain one of the most important roles of Locke’s career. The character introduced him to a global audience and helped establish his acting style.
At the same time, Locke has spoken openly about the pressure of being strongly associated with one role.
In his 2024 Variety interview, he discussed the challenge of being repeatedly considered for gay characters and his desire to demonstrate that he could play a wider range of roles.
That makes the Marvel transition particularly interesting. Billy Maximoff is also queer but the role gave Locke a very different kind of character to explore.
It combined magic, action, fantasy and Marvel mythology with Billy’s personal story.
Why Joe Locke Is Trending Again
Joe Locke’s name continues to attract attention because several parts of his career are now intersecting. Heartstopper remains popular and its final chapter has brought Charlie Spring back into the spotlight.
At the same time, his Marvel role as Wiccan keeps him connected to one of the world’s largest entertainment franchises. His 2026 Emmy win has also added another reason for audiences to search for his name.
This combination creates the “what happened to Joe Locke?” narrative. People who remember him from the early Heartstopper seasons may not have followed his Broadway work or Agatha All Along.
Others may know him first as Wiccan and only later discover that he was Charlie Spring. The two identities are now closely connected to his career but represent very different chapters.
View this post on Instagram
FAQ’s
How old is Joe Locke?
Joe Locke was born on September 24, 2003. He is 22 years old as of September 2026.
What is Joe Locke famous for?
Joe Locke is best known for playing Charlie Spring in Netflix’s Heartstopper. He is also known for playing Billy Maximoff/Wiccan in Marvel’s Agatha All Along.
Did Joe Locke leave Heartstopper?
Heartstopper has now reached its planned conclusion with the feature-length Heartstopper Forever. Locke returned as Charlie Spring for the finale.
Who does Joe Locke play in Marvel?
Joe Locke plays Billy Maximoff, also known as Wiccan, in Agatha All Along.
Is Joe Locke Wiccan?
Yes. Locke plays Billy Maximoff/Wiccan in Marvel’s Agatha All Along. The character’s identity was kept secret early in the series before being revealed during the show.
Conclusion
Joe Locke has come a long way since he first appeared as Charlie Spring in Heartstopper.
The role turned him into a global star and gave him a character that remains closely connected to his name. But Locke did not stop there.
He moved into theatre with Sweeney Todd, joined Marvel through Agatha All Along and took on the role of Billy Maximoff, also known as Wiccan.
That is why searches asking “What happened to Joe Locke?” can be misleading. Nothing negative or mysterious happened to him. He simply moved forward.
From Heartstopper to Broadway and then Marvel, Joe Locke has been steadily expanding his career. His next chapter will show whether he becomes best known for Charlie Spring, Wiccan or a completely different role.
Also Read: Aasif Sheikh Bio: Nepal Cricket Star’s Career, Stats and More
