Heartstopper fans think they’ve spotted a big change for this character in season three

Characters Tao Xu, Isaac Henderson, Darcy Olsson, and Sahar Zahid in Hearstopper season three. (Netflix)

Heartstopper fans have picked up on the possibility of a major development for one beloved character in the upcoming new season.

On Wednesday (20 March), Netflix shared a behind-the-scenes look at Heartstopper season three, and announced that it will drop in October.

While leading stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke teased a season brimming with “sexual tension”, some people have picked up on a more-subtle detail.

Darcy Olsson, played by Kizzy Edgell, appears in the backstage clip and photos with a radical new mullet haircut and wearing what appears to be a chest binder – commonly worn by trans and non-binary people to help flatten their chest and so be more male-presenting.

It’s led to fans speculating that that Darcy, who is in a lesbian relationship with Tara Jones (Corinna Brown), is set to come out as non-binary.

“I can’t wait to see Darcy’s journey on screen, give me non-binary Darcy,” one excited fan wrote.

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Another said: “I am going to absolutely f**king lose it if we actually get Darcy as a non-binary lesbian. Like not to be dramatic, but that would change my life.”

A third added: “If we get non-binary Darcy in season three, I’ll never shut up about it.”

Others picked up on the – probably incidental – fact that Edgell is also seen wearing a white vest with black, purple and yellow splotches on it. The non-binary Pride flag is white, black, yellow and purple.

So far, the Netflix series has been a pretty faithful adaptation of Alice Oseman’s tales.

In the graphic novels, Darcy isn’t portrayed as non-binary. However, if depicted as non-binary in season three, it could be because actor Edgell identifies as non-binary and trans masculine in real life, and uses they/them and he/him pronouns.

“I am trans masculine (not a girl) and my pronouns are he or they,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories last year.

Speaking to Glamour Magazine, Edgell said he wasn’t scared or frightened to talk about his gender identity.

Heartstopper season three drops on Netflix in October.