Bridgerton season 4: Author talks Michael, Michaela swap
Entering Bridgerton season 4 at this point, it is pretty clear that one topic is dominating in terms of conversation. By that, we mean the choice to turn the character of Michael into Michaela. This swap does potentially alter some of the story for Francesca, a character who will have her own story at some point down the road. It could be season 4, or another season down the line.
One thing that the twist also does? Potentially give the Netflix series its first potential same-sex romance that will be a focus for the entirety of the season. Queerness has been explored already in some forms with Benedict, but this could be on a level where it is featured in promotional posters and the like.
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So what does author Julia Quinn have to say about the change from the books? In a new post on Instagram, she indicated that there were many conversations about having the change happen — and in the end, she signs off on it.
Warning: There are book spoilers within the message below:
“I trust Shondaland’s vision for Bridgerton, but I wanted to be sure that we could remain true to the spirit of the book and of the characters … Jess and I talked for a long time about it. More than once. I made it clear that it was extremely important to me that Francesca’s abiding love for John be shown on screen. When I wrote When He Was Wicked I actually had to fight to have the first four chapters, which establish that love, included. My publisher was worried that writing about Fran’s love for John would take away from Michael’s role as the eventual romance novel hero. But I felt that if I didn’t show how deeply she loved John, and how deeply Michael, his cousin, also loved him, then their feelings of guilt at falling in love with each other after John’s death made no sense. I didn’t want to just tell the reader that they loved him. I wanted the reader to feel it.
“I’m confident now that when Francesca has her Bridgerton season, it will be the most emotional and heart-wrenching story of the show, just like When He Was Wicked has always been the true tear-jerker of the Bridgerton book series. Honestly, it may pack even more of a punch, since John is getting a lot more time on the screen than he ever did on the page, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve all fallen a little bit in love with him.”
We do know that there will be plenty more time to see how this story plays out, and even with Quinn’s message, there are also still a lot of people out there with divided feelings on the story. Even with Michael becoming Michaela, we will have to wait and see just how similar or different the story really is from the source.
Related – Be sure to get some more news on Bridgerton now, including other premiere date discussions
Do you think that Francesca is going to be the focus of Bridgerton season 4?
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This article was written by Jessica BunBun.