‘I can follow you like a dog to the end of the world’: The romantic hero is back, but not everyone is enamored

“I can follow you like a dog to the end of the world.” If it weren’t Jacob Elordi uttering it, this quote would be considered questionable. But the young heartthrob manages to make it sound relevant in the much-criticized trailer for the new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which will be released in early 2026. Leaving aside the controversy surrounding Mr. Heathcliff not being played by an actor who matches Emily Brontë’s description of the character, the most curious thing is that a line like that doesn’t look out of place in 2025. On the contrary, it even seems that these declarations of love are trending thanks to the return of romantic comedies and period dramas. In the recent release Materialists, the climax came when Chris Evans’ character said: “When I see your face, I see wrinkles and children that look like you.” A quote that could almost have come from the mouth of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, considering that director Celine Song has acknowledged the direct influence she gleaned from Jane Austen’s work. Given this parade of gallantry, one might ask: is the romantic man back in fashion?

Netflix seems to think so. It first proved it with the furor caused by Jonathan Bailey and Regé-Jean Page as the romantic heroes in Bridgerton. And now, while it continues to order more seasons of the period drama, it has begun production on the next major adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. If several generations fell in love with Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC series and millennials were obsessed with Matthew Macfadyen’s version in Joe Wright’s film, which is now 20 years old, the platform is now looking to give Generation Z the opportunity to do so again with a new actor: Jack Lowden. The same is true of Elordi, who takes over from other generational icons such as Laurence Olivier, Timothy Dalton, and Ralph Fiennes in the role of Mr. Heathcliff. The same characters, conceived two centuries ago, still captivate generation after generation thanks to cinema.

“Mr. Darcy remains iconic, and that’s partly because many people fell more in love with Colin Firth diving into the lake than with the original character,” says Miguel Ángel Jordán, a doctor in English philology from the University of Valencia and vice president of the Jane Austen Society in Spain. Jordán argues that the character embodies several traits that are still embedded in the sentimental upbringing of many young people. “Without realizing it, he created an archetype. He’s a man who takes time to get to know. At first, he seems proud and distant, but then he becomes profound and sensitive. We all like to go beyond appearances, as if it were a treasure hunt. Initial kindness isn’t as attractive as the satisfaction of gradually discovering and being surprised by your partner,” says Jordán, who is awaiting the publication of his next book: a guide to having satisfying romantic relationships based on advice from Jane Austen.

The Mr. Darcy archetype is the same as Mr. Heathcliff’s, in a more rugged version, and, as Jordán notes, it has become entrenched in Hollywood writing manuals, especially in young adult sagas. Even without the sideburns and boots typical of the English Regency period, Robert Pattinson’s pale vampire in Twilight, the enigmatic Four in the Divergent saga, and even Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games perfectly capture the figure. These contemporary Darcys also frequently appear in romantic comedies, a genre of which Jane Austen can well be considered a precursor. These include classics such as You’ve Got Mail, the Bridget Jones films (directly inspired by Pride and Prejudice and in which Firth plays Marcus Darcy, a contemporary of the original character) and, of course, the recent Materialists, which brings themes so typical of Austen — such as class difference — to the world of speed dating in New York. However, despite such a huge number of adaptations, the archetype of the great romantic man is not without controversy. For many, he is the living embodiment of patriarchal dynamics.

Romantic or problematic

Josep M. Armengol, author of Reescrituras de la masculinidad (Rewriting masculinity, 2022) and professor of gender studies and American literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, has no doubts about this: “The ideal of the romantic man has no qualities worth celebrating.” He argues that “this Prince Charming” has evolved to adapt to late capitalism, like Mr. Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey or Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw’s great love in Sex and the City, but he is still just as dangerous. “Firstly, because of the soulmate syndrome, that is, the need to be completed by someone else, and secondly, because of the feeling of possessiveness, which is absolutely sexist,” he explains.

For Armengol, this archetype of the perfect lover, irresistible and afraid of commitment, has historically been reinforced in plots in opposition to another: the committed but boring husband. They are two sides of the same toxic conception of love. With women at the center, cinema has for years, and in all types of genres, created hundreds of love triangles that follow this formula. From Scarlett O’Hara’s debate between Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind to Casablanca, The Bridges of Madison County, or even the recent Challengers. “Ultimately, there’s a lack of alternative models to these two that go beyond or deconstruct this binary, perhaps due to a lack of imagination or an exhaustion of narratives,” Armengol argues.

The problem, however, isn’t just industry-wide. Armengol also points out that the return of the romantic hero is linked to a tendency among young audiences to idolize old gender roles while distrusting the ideology behind them. “Many young girls say they are attracted to heteronormative models of romantic love, and there are some women who claim the role of mother and wife as a choice, voluntarily giving up a professional career for love — so-called tradwives — and it reflects a clear regression. There is no doubt that there is an anti-gender ideology that promotes patriarchal ideals of love as new or subversive.”

It is within this thorny ecosystem that the literary boom of dark romance is taking place. This young adult genre, fervently devoured by Generation Z and driven by networks like TikTok, rejects healthy relationships and takes up that romantic archetype, taking it to morbid and erotic extremes like violence or abuse. The books carry a warning on their first page about the themes they cover, but they are still consumed by younger teenagers. Specifically, Emerald Fennell’s new Wuthering Heights has been widely criticized for forgetting the original story to turn it into a dark romance to the beat of another generational icon, Charli XCX, who composes several pieces for the film. The controversial trailer is soundtracked by a remix of one of her songs, Everything is Romantic.

That word is precisely, according to the gender expert, the beginning of the problem: “I don’t like the term romantic because it has heteropatriarchal roots.” So, is it impossible to create new models of healthier romantic men? “I do believe we can talk about sensitive and egalitarian men. Redefining these romantic ideals is essential to rethinking hegemonic masculinity. We must deconstruct the image of the emotional man as feminized and recognize the masculine potential of emotions. Virility has traditionally been associated with sexual conquest, not love. Therefore, we must also reformulate male sexuality to change the bonds it has often denied.” Until that great change comes, he acknowledges, the influence of the romantic ideal will remain as that: an ideal. And there’s nothing cinema loves more than a good unattainable utopia. Especially if it has Jacob Elordi’s face.

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