Fans of EastEnders have wondered whether the soap might run a ‘Junior Six’ storyline in which the teenagers of Walford ‘team up’ to kill local creep Joel Marshall.

Joel has made no shortage of enemies since arriving in Walford earlier this year, quickly turning the local youths against him due to his treatment of Avani. After sleeping with her and then shaming her for it, he quickly made himself unpopular with just about everyone but Tommy.

And after assaulting a young woman on the tube, his behaviour shows no sign of improving anytime soon. With many viewers describing him as irredeemable already, some have speculated how long he might be sticking around.

Will the soap kill Joel off in a rebooted version of The Six?

EastEnders fans predict Joel to be killed off in junior ‘Six’ storyline

Writing on a tongue-in-cheek Reddit thread, one fan put forward their theory as to how Joel’s comeuppance might play out. Taking inspiration from The Six and their murder of Keanu Taylor, they suggested that history could repeat itself.

“Avani, Lily, Tommy, Nugget, Ricky, Amy and Denzel (Maybe not Tommy….one of them will need to sit this one out if they’re keeping it as six). They’re gonna team up to kill Joel. I can’t see how they can redeem him, and let’s face it…he’s only gonna get worse. So [expletive] it, let’s have another The Six™,” wrote one fan.

“unironically think this is a great idea,” wrote one fan.

“Lowkey could watch and be invested in this,” said another.

“i would actually love if they did this,” a third agreed.

As discussed in the thread, each of the teens would certainly have motive – including Amy, Denzel and Nugget, who remain angry at his treatment of wronged Avani. Tommy, meanwhile, may eventually lash out at Joel’s manipulation as his ill behaviour continues.

Joel’s bad influence continues in EastEnders next week

Next week’s episodes of the soap will see Joel continue to manipulate Tommy as he encourages him to steal vapes from the Minute Mart. When she discovers what they’ve done, Kat storms over to see Vicki and Ross over Joel’s negative influence on her son.

However, she soon becomes distracted by the other man in her life when it becomes clear that Alfie is lying about being in Australia. Furious she demands answers from a recently-returned Stacey. Will she learn the truth about Zoe?