Avid Heartstopper fans have been fuming about one missing character for years – but Heartstopper Season 3 finally introduces Oliver Spring in a completely different way.
If you’re a fan of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, you’re likely drawn in for one reason: no matter the storyline, everything is tied together by wholesome, lovable connections.
Even so, Heartstopper Season 3 is taking a darker turn. Charlie is getting to grips with his eating disorder, while the rest of the gang seriously weighs up their future.
There’s another change though – fans are finally getting a glimpse of the long-lost Oliver Spring. But why has it taken until Season 3 of the Netflix series for him to show up, and what’s different?
Heartstopper Season 3 introduces a different Oliver Spring
In Heartstopper Season 3, Oliver is introduced as Tori and Charlie’s cousin, but he’s their younger brother in the original comics.
Heartstopper broke the news in July, with Oseman explaining “Oliver Spring will be making a small but festive appearance in Season 3 of Heartstopper as a younger cousin of Tori and Charlie. I’m so excited for the fans of the show to meet this beloved character from the comics!”
Sadly, Olivier is only going to be in one episode, featured coming to Charlie’s house for Christmas Day. Episode 5 explores his relationship with Charlie and Tori – although Charlie ditches the house for Nick following an argument with his mom.
It’s Tori who manages to make things better again, meaning the trio spends the night playing Mario Kart together in the living room.
Other than that, not much about Oliver is revealed. He’s more of a comic Easter egg than a fleshed-out character – we don’t know what side of the family he comes from, what his relationship is like with the other cousins over for Christmas, or what his life is actually like outside of the original Heartstopper story.
In the books, Oliver is introduced from the start. He’s Charlie and Tori’s younger brother… and as annoying as he can be, he clearly loves his siblings a lot.
Not only this, but Olivier also takes a huge shine to Nick. He helps Charlie’s coming out journey immensely by being incredibly accepting, building a healthy relationship with Nick in no time. When he needs to be, Oliver’s mature, even though he was only around six years old when we first met him.
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Oliver is also mentioned in Oseman’s novel Solitaire, which explores Tori as a main character. Here, he’s slightly older at seven, with the story taking place in between the Heartstopper novels. He is also mostly used as a background character.
Why has Oliver not been in the show before?
According to Oseman, the reason why Oliver hasn’t been seen yet – and possibly why his role completely changed – comes down to the “painful process” of casting younger actors.
Aside from the statement you can see on Instagram, Oseman hasn’t actually made any official media comment about this. However, fans have reported this is something she has something she has said over time – mostly likely at one of the many events about the novels.
Fans haven’t taken this lightly, though. As it’s the only major plot point that deviates significantly from the source material, many have been left at a loss as to why Oliver hasn’t shown up before now.
“If they wanna randomly add Oliver Spring to Heartstopper in S2, I will literally ignore how illogical it is if it means getting this at some point,” one posted in 2022.
A second added “HATE being reminded that Oliver Spring will never be part of the show universe… the Spring siblings are so precious and it feels like a part of them is missing without him.”
if they wanna randomly add oliver spring to heartstopper in s2 i will literally ignore how illogical it is if it means getting this at some point. pic.twitter.com/6OAdHvILzj
— ☁️🍉 (@torisprjngs) May 4, 2022
While there hasn’t been any official explanation for why Oliver has switched from brother to cousin, fans aren’t missing out on any key scenes because of it. It also makes sense from a storyline perspective – as things start to get more grown-up in Season 3, we probably don’t want younger kids hanging around all of a sudden.
It remains unknown if we’ll see Oliver again – or if Heartstopper Season 4 will officially be greenlit – so for now, fans will have to keep their fingers crossed.
Heartstopper Season 3 is available on Netflix from October 3. In the meantime, check out our Season 3 review, the episode titles explained, and why Ben isn’t in new episodes.
You can also find Netflix updates with Virgin River Season 6 and Stranger Things Season 5, alongside more TV shows streaming this month.