Back in 2019, indie film provocateur and prominent New Queer Cinema filmmaker Gregg Araki created his first ever TV series, Now Apocalypse.
Despite baring many of the director’s trademarks—queer exploration, hot and horny young people, apocalyptic anxieties—the colorful, sci-fi-twinged comedy never quite seemed to find its audience on Starz and was canceled after only one season, leaving things hanging with some frustrating loose ends.
While Now Apocalypse didn’t break through the way it should have back in 2019, it sure feels like folks are coming around to it now—at least, according to Gay Twitter™.
Recently, images from the series have been making the rounds on the app, prompting fans to sing its praises. The images in question? Why, they’re of stars Avan Jogia and Beau Mirchoff looking exceptionally hot:
Jogia leads the series as Ulysses Zane, an aimless queer twenty-something living in Los Angeles who finds himself falling down a rabbit hole of conspiracies after his hook-up (Teen Wolf‘s Tyler Posey, in a sexy cameo role) mysteriously vanishes and he begins having visions about the end of the world involving reptilian aliens.
Meanwhile, Mirchoff—who most recently appeared on Hallmark’s Ride opposite our favorite gay cowboys—plays Ford, Ulysses’ straight bestie and roommate who desperately wants to be a successful actor. Throughout the season, he deals with both a girlfriend who presses for an open relationship and a predatory director who promises him stardom but winds up using Ford for his body.
Related*
This Twitter account is doing God’s work by documenting the steamiest gay makeouts in film & TV
Whether you want to add to your watch list, or just enjoy seeing two men touch tongues, this Twitter’s got you covered.
No, Ulysses and Ford don’t hook up in the series, for what it’s worth. They do, however, share a pretty passionate kiss in an unforgettable fantasy scene, which should clue you into the kind of sexy, campy, fun approach Araki is bringing to the series.
(Trust us, you’ll want to click through to that tweet to see for yourself.)
So, what is it that’s bringing new eyeballs to Now Apocalypse a full four years after the finale aired?
Well, on one hand, we’ve seen an awful lot of LGBTQ+ focused shows get canceled of late, so perhaps the gays are looking for something queer, exciting, and new-to-them to binge? If that’s the case, Now Apocalypse sure fits the bill. It seems to be the same reason we’ve seen a renewed interest in HBO’s Looking in the past few months.
Related*
PHOTOS: Take a trip down memory lane with these ‘Looking’ throwback pics from a series gone too soon
The HBO gay dramedy is having a viral renaissance.
Plus, there’s the fact that Starz has never been quite as popular as fellow premium cable channel HBO, or even Showtime for that matter, so Now Apocalypse wasn’t necessarily widely available when it first aired. But now—thanks to a glut of streaming options—it can easily be watched via Amazon Prime Video, Spectrum TV, and The Roku Channel (or purchase directly through AppleTV and Vudu).
And there’s the simple fact that hot guys are timeless. This past week, Twitter users were showing their appreciation of Mirchoff in the series—which only prompted others to log on and sing the praises of Jogia (who, by the way, updated his pronouns to he/they late last year). In the end, we all win!
And, while we’re at it, we’d also like to call attention to Jacob Artist (Glee, Quantico) who appears in the series as Isaac, a potential romantic interest for Ulysses. The two look very good together, if we do say so ourselves.
In short, Gay Twitter™ is suddenly talking about Now Apocalypse again, so we’d like to take this opportunity to say: What’re you waiting for? Go watch Now Apocalypse… now!
And in case you need further encouragement, we’ll share a few more of our favorite photos from the series’ sexy stars below. Enjoy, and get to binging!
Related*
For over 30 years, Gregg Araki’s been making cinema a queerer, sexier place
Need some streaming recs for Pride Month? Try the films of Gregg Araki, which all feel as fresh and shocking as the day they were released.
mrcynical
It started off weird and cool but just turned into “dating in LA is so hard for us attractive people” and then got canceled after one season
abfab
Woulda, shoulda, coulda!………no Samantha.
theaterbloke
I generally like Gregg Araki’s stuff, but this was out there, even for him.
dbmcvey
Stunning!
nystrele
All of this for a show that isn’t available on any streaming service free?
barryaksarben
I loved that show and the lead is to this day one of my favorites. He was so damned sexy and his eyes are beautiful
Joshooeerr
The only real reason for watching was Avan Jogia, who was gorgeous. But the series was an aimless mess – didn’t know what it wanted to be, seemed to have nothing to say, and everyone in it looked lost.
michaelmt1009
Amazon Prime states that this video is NOT available.
Steve
Kind of agree with most comments. There was one scene, however, totally worthy of being cropped out and put on a loop and watched a millions times where Avan and Beau are in a park over-looking LA. It’s clear that Avan’s character wants his best friend Beau despite feigning otherwise. Well, there’s a dream sequence that’s worth the entire series. If only, that dream had come true!