How Netflix’s 'Sweet Tooth' Characters Compare to the DC Comic
How Netflix’s 'Sweet Tooth' Characters Compare to the DC Comic
Netflix's latest big swing at genre fare is Sweet Tooth, which is part post-apocalyptic fairy tale, part road story, part action, and part adventure. Which is to say: there's a little bit of everything going on here, but it really does work. Based on a 40-issue comic series from DC/Vertigo Comics from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire, and produced by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, Sweet Tooth has the source material and clout behind it to be a big hit. But what really pulls everything together might be the degree to which the Netflix series pulls of its depictions of some of the characters first made famous in Lemire's comic.
Some of these characters—like titular hero Sweet Tooth/Gus and main villain Abbot—almost feel like they've been adapted directly from the page onto your screen. Others, like the hard-exterior and brutal hero Tommy Jepperd, have been tweaked for the adaptation. Others have seen more dramatic changes.
But that's not to say both versions of a character aren't good. The story being told is being told on a different medium; something that works in a comic may not work as well on TV, and that's totally fine. Choices are made for a reason. Below, we look at how many of the characters in Netflix's version of Sweet Tooth compare to their DC/Vertigo comic counterparts, and how their stories may reflect any changes that are clear.
1) Gus/Sweet Tooth (Christian Convery)
Convery is a pitch perfect Gus/Sweet Tooth in Netflix's Sweet Tooth. He perfectly captures the character's hope, optimism, and general good vibes. It's easy to see why every character he comes in contact with falls for him, and just wants him to be happy and find his place in the world. This is one of the best depictions of a comic character in recent memory—no notes. And what a great performance from the 11-year-old Convery?
2) Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie)
The character of Tommy Jepperd follows in a long line of characters, including The Mandalorian and The Hound, who become reluctant friends and protectors of younger characters during a long road trip.
Nonso Anozie plays Jepperd wonderfully (and at 6'6' he certainly captures the "Big" part of "Big Man"), but he's a bit of a shift from the depiction in the comics. The TV version of the character is an NFL star while Jepperd of the comics played hockey. Also, you can see that Jepperd in the comics was a white man, and Anozie is Black (in an interview included in the back of the third deluxe compilation of the Sweet Tooth comics, Lemire said that he imagined Liam Neeson playing Jepperd in a movie).
3) General Abbot (Neil Sandilands)
Abbot is very faithfully adapted from comic to big screen, and played with the perfect amount of evil bravado by Neil Sandilands (chew that scenery, my guy!). The only difference? Comic Abbot was a moustache guy, while Netflix Abbot has a huuuuge beard. Honestly? The beard works a little better for an evil villain. Can't wait to see more of this character and performance as the series progresses.
4) Aimee (Dania Ramirez)
The character of Aimee in the show is sort of a hybrid of multiple characters from the comic. There is no "Aimee" in Lemire's comic, but "Aimee" seems to be something of a combination of Lucy—a woman experimented on by Abbot and Dr. Singh and then forced into sex work (dark!) before teaming up with Jepperd as a badass fighter and eventually entering a relationship with him—and Wendy's unnamed mother, whose story is only told through flashback.
5) Bobby
Bobby is such a great character. But I'm just going to say it—they made him even cuter for the Netflix series. What an adorable little guy. Kind of getting Paddington energy? Just me? Maybe. But it seems like the Sweet Tooth team may have been channeling Baby Yoda or Baby Groot with Bobby....and pretty strongly succeeded. Bobby is a pivotal character in the comic, and we should be excited to see how the show continues to use him.
6) Wendy (Naledi Murray)
Wendy is also a pivotal character in the comic, though her origin story has been shifted. In the comic, she was protected by her unnamed mother (who has been combined in the show with the Lucy character into the character of Aimee). But in the show, she's shown to be Becky/Bear's estranged sister. She's only just now meeting Gus, and the relationship between these characters is pivotal in the comic. We'll see where the show takes things in future seasons.
7) Dr. Singh (Adeel Akhtar)
One of the things the Sweet Tooth show does so well for comic readers is focus on and expand the story of Dr. Singh. While in the comic he's shown only as a morally ambiguous but ambitious presence, desperate to find the cure for the sick, in the show we see why, and what gets him to that point. Adeel Akhtar plays Singh as a really kind, nice-hearted man, and we really feel like we know who he is and what he stands for. And it really hurts when he begins experimenting on hybrids by the end of the show's first season, desperate to save his wife, Rani (not a character in the comics). Season 1 of Sweet Tooth gives the Dr. Singh backstory that the comics never did, and it serves everyone super well.
8) Becky (Stefania LaVie Owen)
Perhaps the biggest change from the comic comes in the character of Becky. Becky in the Sweet Tooth series is the leader of a Lord of the Flies type group of teenagers, while the Becky of the comics enters the story as a sex worker alongside Lucy, forced into it against her will. Becky in the show is also shown to be Wendy's long lost sister; this plotline is not part of Lemire's comic.
9) Father/Richard Fox (Will Forte)
Will Forte is endlessly charming always, but he takes it to a new level in Sweet Tooth. If you thought you were done with him after just a few brief scenes in the first episode (before he died) you were sorely mistaken; a flashback episode put Forte's natural charisma and almost quiet, awkward-but-so-endearing charm to work. Hopefully we continue to get flashback scenes in future seasons. It's a wonderful change from the comic series, where the character of Richard isn't so likable; we feel for Gus because he lost his father, but flashbacks show Richard to be sort of a fanatic and a madman.
10) Johnny (Marlon Williams)
The first season of Sweet Tooth only began to touch on Johnny, who becomes one of he most important characters in the comic. His role should increase exponentially in a potential Season 2.
There are some big changes—but the show's casting does a great job capturing the essence of the badass series.