Will byers is gay

The season establishes that Vecna feeds on fear and unresolved emotional wounds, particularly Will’s belief that revealing his sexuality would cost him the people he cares about. With the world on the brink of collapse, some viewers argue that pausing the action for a lengthy emotional exchange disrupts momentum in a finale. Now, we spent the whole season together, and she’s part of my little “Stranger Things” family.

Lastly, you had the ability to collaborate with younger actors this season.

Even with the coming out scene, having that much dialogue and actually getting to express myself through my words, which this character has never really done until then, was so nice.

A lot of those scenes you share with Winona Ryder.

I think it helps him accept himself, and you totally see it from the beginning of the season.

The coming out monologue is Schnapp’s most emotionally intense and verbose in the series. It was so nice because it hadn’t been exhausted yet. It was all a blur. We watched him weigh his anxiety about appearing not normal against his bone-deep fear of what would happen if he let the monsters in. Unfortunately, that often happened in malicious ways in the first season, such as with bullies making homophobic jokes and Will's own father apparently calling him a slur.

There was also the painful scene in season 3, episode 3, in which Mike tells Will, "It's not my fault you don't like girls," and clearly devastates him.

Was there fear about being too explicit, or do you think Will is still sort of figuring out his identity? Doesn’t Will deserve an arc that isn’t a conscious retread of another character’s backstory?

The bigger issue is that Stranger Things lost sight of Will Byers as a character over the years. But this theoretically huge leap forward for Will still doesn’t achieve the emotional power it deserves after five seasons of cumulative storytelling.

By coming out to his friends and family first, Will took away the power of Vecna's threat.

Will's Sexuality Has Been A Topic Of Discussion Since Stranger Things Season 1

Will coming out in season 5 was far from a shock. Key to this was Noah Schnapp’s genuinely impressive performance. It was perfect.

Did you get the opportunity to workshop the script with the Duffers or with Shawn Levy, who directed “The Bridge” with the Duffers?

Viewers haven't actually heard from Mike yet, but Will's comments seem fairly certain.

Shipping questions aside, this was a massive moment for Will Byers, and it was a pivotal Stranger Things scene that fans have been waiting several years to finally see. But there’s no complexity in Schnapp’s performance now, and it’s hard to say if it’s purely an effect of the writing or the result of some shift in the style of filming.

As his friends came of age and found girlfriends, he remained outside the group, not only from his traumatic abduction, but from a more elusive feeling of isolation.

Will’s Big Scene In Stranger Things S5 Episode 7 Explained

Warning! There’s also something powerful about seeing a young queer person embrace who he is and for that to be the force that helps him unlock his “sorcerer” potential and defeat the great evil.

But much of this rings hollow after the show spent years decentering Will’s perspective or only dwelling on his otherness in shallow ways.

It was like a 12-hour day of just that monologue. By voicing that fear and receiving unconditional support, Will confronts a vulnerability that Vecna has exploited, weakening the hold the antagonist has over him.

Despite this narrative intention, the scene has divided viewers.

Much of the criticism centres on timing. I’m glad that they edited it the way they did, where it’s nice to see him not just sob through the whole scene, but kind of smile through the memories and give that lighter feel.