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Cole Sprouse Really Wants Jughead To Be Asexual On "Riverdale"

Sprouse says he's been "fighting pretty heavily" to make it happen.

Despite Cole Sprouse's best efforts, the classic Archie Comics character Jughead Jones, who the The Suite Life of Zack & Cody alum will portray on the upcoming CW show Riverdale, won't be depicted as asexual as he is in the comic books.

Archie's longtime best friend was confirmed to be asexual last year in Jughead #4 after writer Chip Zdarsky openly commented on the character's sexuality at New York Comic Con in 2015.

“My view of Jughead is, over...75 years, there have been sporadic moments where he has dabbled in the ladies, but historically he has been portrayed as asexual,” Zdarsky explained at the time.

“They just didn’t have a label for it, so they just called him a woman-hater," he continued. "But he’s not a misogynist—he just watches his cohorts lose their minds with hormones. I think something like asexuality is underrepresented, and since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I’m continuing to write him that way.”

Though Jughead Jones might be open about his sexuality in the comic universe, when he makes the leap from page to screen next week, he'll be portrayed as straight, even as star Cole Sprouse fought to keep his character asexual.

“Asexuality is not one of those things in my research that is so understood at face value and I think maybe the development of that narrative could also be something very interesting and very unique and still resonate with people, and not step on anyone’s toes,” the 24-year-old actor told Hollywood Life.

While producers have said Jughead will date women throughout the first season of Riverdale, Sprouse is open to having his character's sexuality evolve over time.

“I think sexuality especially is one of those fluid things where often times we find who we are through certain things that happen in our lives,” he said. “If season one is one of those events or something like that needs to happen in season one for Jughead to eventually realize that kind of narrative, I’d love to play with that, too.”

Given how misunderstood asexuality is in pop culture, this could be a great opportunity to bring asexual representation into the mainstream.

h/t: CBR

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