As Stranger Things comes to its explosive conclusion, Noah Schnapp is ready for fans to bring Will Byers’ personal journey home.
With the first part of Season 5 seeing Will explore not only his dormant psychic powers, but his sexual orientation, the actor teased that the Duffer Brothers “close it really well” with the character’s apparent unrequited love for his best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard).
“Look, it’s like a real, authentic representation of a queer kid in the ’80s,” explained Schnapp on Watch What Happens Live. “I’ve dealt with that myself, being in love with my best friend, and maybe they don’t love you back, or maybe they feel differently. I’m not gonna spoil anything, but I think the Duffers close it really well.”
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Following Season 4, which teased Will’s sexual orientation and his affection for Mike, Schnapp’s protagonist confides in Robin (Maya Hawke) after finding out she is also LGBTQ.
With the Season 5 halfway point revealing Will’s telekinetic powers, Schnapp and co-creator Matt Duffer previously explained to Deadline that the supernatural abilities are a metaphor for the character embracing his identity.
“I think people mistake fear for weakness. Will has had a lot of fear through the years, because of what he’s had to endure, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak,” said Schnapp, adding: “He always comes back, and he never crumbles. So that is his strength, and I think he shows that in the end, that he is stronger than we all think.”
Duffer explained, “This was about Will’s journey in terms of finding out really who he was, and coming to terms with that. So we liked the idea of tying that into some of the more supernatural elements, that in order to become his most powerful self, he had to also really come to terms with who he is.”
With the first four episodes of Stranger Things, Season 5 now available to stream on Netflix, the next three roll out on Christmas, with the two-hour finale dropping on New Year’s Eve.