Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie's Wuthering Heights is one of the most highly anticipated films of 2026 - but the latest adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic novel has faced a fair share of controversy from the very start. Brontë's 1847 novel follows the Earnshaw and Linton families during late 18th century England. The story focuses on Earnshaw's foster son Heathcliff, who falls in love with foster sister Catherine. While the pair begin an intense love affair, Heathcliff sets out on a path of revenge and destruction after Catherine ultimately chooses to marry someone else. The novel is considered a classic of Gothic literature and has seen various onscreen adaptations over the years. When it was announced in September 2024 that Saltburn director Emerald Fennell would be the next to try her hand at the story with Elordi and Robbie in the lead roles, some fans of the novel were quick to point out apparent discrepancies in the casting and aesthetic choices. "I wish i did not live to see the day wuthering heights, a beautiful gothic novel about the cycle of generational trauma with themes of race, class, religion, mental illness, abuse, etc., was adapted into a white washed dark romance Booktok bodice ripper with a hyperpop soundtrack," one person wrote via the Instagram comments section after Warner Bros. revealed the first teaser trailer in September 2025. Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie's 'Wuthering Heights' Trailer Gets Mixed Reaction Many fans and scholars pointed to issues over Elordi being a white man while Heathcliff is heavily insinuated to be a person of color, as well as Elordi and Robbie being adults while Heathcliff and Catherine are meant to be teenagers. The teaser trailer's more erotic tone, meanwhile, worried some fans that the underlying messages of sexual violence, racism and social class will be forgotten. Others, however, expressed their excitement over a fresh take on the classic. "Did we read the same book? It was dark, tortured and their love story toxic," one person explained via Instagram in September 2025. "Each to their own, but for myself I never set the expectation a film adaptation will ever be exactly like the book. There are movies that are close to the story but good movies in themselves, some that completely miss the mark. Less expectation, less disappointment especially until I see the movie." Keep scrolling for everything to know about Wuthering Heights' controversy: Heathcliff's Casting Jacob Elordi Youtube/Warner Bros. Pictures In Brontë's novel, Heathcliff is described as a "dark-skinned gypsy" with "black eyes," leading many scholars to believe that he is meant to be a person of color. While Fennell's take on the film is far from the first adaptation to cast a white man as Heathcliff - Tom Hardy portrayed the character in the 2009 miniseries while Ralph Fiennes made his film debut as Heathcliff in the 1992 movie - the most recent take, 2011's Andrea Arnold-directed film, saw James Howson in the lead role. Many fans of the novel believe Heathcliff's ambiguous background is a crucial aspect of his story line as it shapes his character through Brontë's themes of racial prejudice. After the casting of Elordi was announced in September 2024, and the trailer revealed one year later, some fans voiced their discomfort with the choice. "Not to be that one friend who is too woke but bleaching the class and racial otherness out of wuthering heights to sell a horny whitewashed romance genuinely pisses me off," one person wrote in the Instagram comments section of the first teaser trailer in September 2025. Another added via X, "Fine, I'll bite. Casting a white man for Heathcliff broke this adaptation at the very foundation because I look at Jacob Elordi and all I see is a caricature and fundamental misunderstanding of the source material. No amount of stunning cinematography can save that." Meanwhile, various Brontë scholars have also voiced criticisms. Claire O'Callaghan told The Telegraph in April 2025 that Fennell casting a white man as Heathcliff "overlooks the ambiguity that's there, and therefore kind of overlooks the readings that Emily Brontë is pointing to that are as rich as anything else." Catherine and Heathcliff's Ages Another point of contention for certain scholars and fans is the choice to cast Robbie and Elordi, who were 34 and 27, respectively, at the time of filming. The novel insinuates that the characters are much younger, with readers meeting Catherine at around age 6 with her growing up to be around 19 by the time of her death. While Hollywood often ages up actors for roles, Catherine's youth and coming of age is believed by some to be an imperative aspect to the story in how it highlights the choices that shape her tragic fate. (In the 2011 adaptation, Kaya Scodelario was around 18 while playing Catherine, while Howson was around 22 as Heathcliff.) Eroticism Warner Bros. When the first trailer dropped in September 2025, some fans of the novel noticed the erotic