Bill & Ted co-writer Ed Solomon has responded to a fan’s claims the upcoming sequel will be too “woke” because of the inclusion of new female characters.

Bill & Ted Face The Music will feature the titular duo’s daughters, played by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine.

“We all know Bill And Ted Face The Music will be a woke piece of trash,” a Twitter user wrote to Solomon on the platform. The writer responded, asking: “What, in your opinion, would make the film seem ‘woke’ to you?”

“The two girls you’ve cast,” the person replied, adding later that they thought the filmmakers had “made them girls to fulfil an agenda”.

The worst part of having to fulfill the agenda was changing the original title "Bill and Ted Club Baby Seals"

(Maybe it's good in the long run, though, cuz it did totally give the whole plot away) pic.twitter.com/OqoFc9QjgU

— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) May 15, 2020

 

“I know you feel that,” Solomon replied. “There’s no agenda – and we made them girls WAY before it was socially a thing. But you’ll believe what you need to believe. I get it. Your facts are way off, though. They’re supporting characters.”

After Solomon shared a screenshot of the conversation, another Twitter user asked: “When did having female characters become ‘socially a thing’?” He clarified that he was referring to “before the culture became aware that it was an issue that needed to be addressed”.

Bill & Ted Face The Music is currently due for release on August 21 and will see original stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return to their titular roles nearly 30 years on from their last outing in 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

William Sadler, who will return as Death, told NME earlier this year the sequel still has “the spirit of the original movies”. “All the fun came back instantly — not just for me, but for Keanu and Alex too,” he said.

“My knees aren’t as good and the body is a little creakier, but the minute we put on the make-up and the robes it was as if The Reaper had been trapped in a bottle for 30 years, and as soon as we pulled the cork off he came flying out and started improvising just like I did back in Bogus Journey.”