Lovecraft Country Reveals Major LGBTQ+ Character

Lovecraft Country has revealed that one of its main characters is in fact part of the LGBTQ+ community. (SPOILERS!) In Lovecraft Country episode 5 it is revealed that Atticus' (Jonathan Majors) father Montrose (Michael K. Williams) is actually living a closeted life - a cover he can no longer maintain when we see him show up on the doorstep of bar owner Sammy (Jon Hudson Odom), for what quickly turns into a passionate and tyrst between the two lovers. While some viewers may have been caught by surprise by this big reveal about Montrose, Lovecraft Country has actually been dropping clues about it since episode 1!

One of Lovecraft Country's first scenes of Atticus' homecoming in the South Side Chicago was his stop at Sammy's bar in search of his father, who is quickly established as a regular there. Atticus' arrival at Sammy's bar just so happens to coincide with Sammy getting oral sex from a young man in the alleyway, establishing early on that Lovecraft Country would have some kind of LGBTQ+ focus. In both episodes 1 and 2, conversations that Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) has with both 'Tic and Montrose hint at a very complicated past, where Montrose was the central target of his father's ire, for reasons that aren't explicitly stated, but suddenly seem all too clear.

However, the biggest clues about Montrose's sexual preferences came in episode 4. While touring a museum in search of the Titus Braithwhite's vault, Montrose met with a security guard he claimed to know "from the bar." At the same time, the bar's security guard/annoying travel companion "Tree" (Deron J. Powell) made a point to tell Atticus that Montrose and Sammy had been getting "real close" as of late, after making a point to say that Sammy was into men. It seems now, looking back, that the light bulb went on for Atticus at that moment, as he immediately started to question Montrose about the nature of his connection with Sammy. In the historical horror world of Lovecraft Country, Montrose's romance with Sammy seems like it could have doom hanging all over it.

For fans of actor Michael K. Williams, this is a fun little Easter egg, as it's not the first time that the actor has played a hard-edged man who turns out to be LGBTQ+. Williams' big breakout role was playing violent-yet-noble "Stick-up guy" Omar Little in HBO's The Wire, who remains one of the most groundbreaking LGBTQ+ characters in TV history.

Lovecraft Country airs Sunday nights on HBO.