Is will gay in the show stranger things

Seeing as no major characters have died in Stranger Things season 5, chances are high for a few fatalities in the series finale episode.

Volumes 1 and 2 of Stranger Things season 5 are now available on Netflix. Hawkins is visibly deteriorating under Vecna’s influence, the threat is no longer abstract, and with the finale Chapter 8: The Rightside Up scheduled to premiere on December 31, 2025.


Yet the moment that has generated the most discussion is not a death, but a deeply personal confession from Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) at the most urgent point in the story.

Just before the group prepares for its final confrontation with Vecna, Will gathers his mother Joyce, his brother Jonathan, and his closest friends.

That said, Volume 2 shows how the powers can be directly used on Vecna himself, like when Will prevents Vecna from killing Max and Holly. His friends referred to him as “no longer Gage” — a phrase that clearly resonated with Will, who earned the nickname “Zombie Boy” after seemingly returning from the dead in season one. Set in 1980s Indiana, the scene presents acceptance as immediate and universal, a choice some viewers feel simplifies the social risks queer teenagers faced at the time.

(Steve and Dustin got me a couple times in this new batch of episodes.) But those moments of genuine feeling are often buried, little blips between hours of mind-numbing, murkily lit action-movie theatrics. Season five is all climax, and as a result very little of it feels truly climactic.

Back in season two, Will listens to Mr. Clarke tell the story of Phineas Gage, who improbably survived an iron rod through the head but became a different man as a result.

After sharing a group hug (after which Max tells Will he will have to hug her, due to her continued paralysis), the group focuses on the task ahead: taking down Vecna.

Why Will Reveals The Truth About His Sexuality Before The Mission

While it might seem like odd timing for Will to come out to his friends and family, there was an actual urgency to this situation.

In order to defeat Vecna and stop his plan, the group will need to destroy the bridge, which is already wildly unstable.

The Party's Plan To Defeat Vecna & Rescue Holly Explained

Image via Netflix

Surprisingly, Steve is the one who comes up with the group's plan to get to the Abyss and ultimately, Vecna.

And season two wouldn’t work without Will! This post contains SPOILERS for Stranger Things season 5, Volume 2Stranger Thingsseason 5, episode 7, contained one of the most important Will Byers scenes to date; here's everything that happened in that scene and why it matters. Meanwhile, other members of the party would climb up the tower into the Abyss and rescue Holly and the other kids to bring them back through the bridge and back to the real world.

Before the Party gears up for the big mission, Dustin adds one final aspect to the plan.

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. But this theoretically huge leap forward for Will still doesn’t achieve the emotional power it deserves after five seasons of cumulative storytelling. The show has been building to this moment for a long time.

Since season 1, fans have wondered about Will's sexuality, and it's clear that this was happening within the show itself, too. In season 5, episode 7, after the most intense mental connection between Henry Creel/Vecna and Will yet—wherein the two are effectively fighting over control of Vecna's body—Will experiences terrifying visions.

Although viewers don't get to witness Will's visions directly, it's clear that Vecna has shown Will a future in which his friends and family drift away from him, if not outright reject him, for his identity.

This will be her final chance at taking down her "brother," and even if she has Kali's help, a defeat could come with a great cost. In response, Will tells Joyce and then Mike that he has something he needs to share, not just with the two of them but with everyone. If the scene in which Jonathan reassures Will that he is with him no matter what in season 4 wasn't enough, the conversations between Will and Robin (then the only out character) should have been.

Robin has essentially acted as a mentor to Will in season 5, helping him learn to accept himself and feel confident enough to come out.

Will totally ceded the spotlight to Eleven at one point in the show, but now they’re sharing hero duties, which feels closer to the ideal balance. We didn’t see Will much onscreen in those early days, but we got to know him through his friends and family.