Will's (Noah Schnapp) identity and friendship with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is explored in a new direction during season 4 of 'Stranger Things' — more
Amid the traumatic experience, Will struggled to return to his normal life as things around him changed and the monsters from the Upside Down returned.) hinted that Will might be interested in someone while writing a letter to Mike.
Will, who later visibly recoiled when a girl tried to flirt with him, chose gay mathematician Alan Turing as his hero for a class presentation. Season 4, which dropped in May 2022, also hinted that Will’s painting for Mike might hold a large significance.“Sometimes, I think it’s just scary, to open up like that — to say how you really feel, especially to people you care about the most,” Will told Mike. “Because what if — what if they don’t like the truth?”role while coming out as gay. “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought,” he captioned the TikTok video.were introduced to Will as the child who suddenly went missing in Hawkins, Indiana . The character appeared largely offscreen until he escaped from the Upside Down at the end of season 1. Will, who later visibly recoiled when a girl tried to flirt with him, chose gay mathematician Alan Turing as his hero for a class presentation. Season 4, which dropped in May 2022, also hinted that Will's painting for Mike might hold a large significance., Will offers Mike advice that alluded to his own life. “Sometimes, I think it’s just scary, to open up like that — to say how you really feel, especially to people you care about the most,” Will told Mike. “Because what if — what if they don’t like the truth?” In January 2023, Schnapp credited hisrole while coming out as gay."I guess I'm more similar to Will than I thought," he captioned the TikTok video. Scroll down for the“All his friends have girlfriends and they’re out dating, and he just wants to have fun with his friends,” Schnapp detailed toin July 2019. “You see in episode 3, he just wants to play D&D in the basement, and now all of his friends have girlfriends and they are dating. I kind of just interpret it like he’s not ready to grow up and he doesn’t really want to move on to dating and relationships yet. He still wants to be a kid and play in the basement like he did in old times.”“There were a lot of different versions of that scene. We tried, ‘It’s not my fault you don’t like girls yet.’ So, we did a bunch of different things to it, and it was up to the Duffers," the It actor recalled toto decide. “I don’t even know if it had to do with Will’s sexuality. I think Mike was just mad and listing a genuine fact that he’s not interested. So, I guess we’ll see what it really meant, but it’s all up to the Duffers and what they want to do.”, who directed the season 3 episode, later addressed claims that there was intended subtext about Will's sexuality. “It’s not specific to sexual orientation or anything,” Ivey explained during an interview with“I feel like never really address it or blatantly say how Will is," he toldin May 2022."I think that’s the beauty of it, that it’s just up to the audience’s interpretation, if it’s Will kind of just refusing to grow up and growing up slower than his friends, or if he is really gay.” For the New York native, it was more meaningful not to address Will's feelings about romance. “I find that people do reach to put a label on him and just want to know, so badly, like, ‘Oh, and this is it.' He’s just confused and growing up. And that’s what it is to be a kid," Schnapp shared.“Can I just say, it’s 2022 and we don’t have to label things. I think what’s really nice about Will’s character is that he’s just a human being going through his own personal demons and issues," Brown explained toafter season 4 premiered in May 2022."So many kids out there don’t know, and that’s OK. That’s OK to not know. And that’s OK not to label things.” The Emmy nominee continued:"It’s such an amazing role for Noah to play. And to be that role model for kids out there who don’t know what they’re going through growing up.”"If you have been watching the show, you should know that Will is not interested in Eleven. He is interested in someone else in the group," theactor teased during an interview with Netflix Mexico. At the time, Wolfhard agreed with Harbour, adding,"You will see soon." Harbour later elaborated on Will's connection with his best friend, saying,"Will wants to be in the basement with Mike playing D&D for the rest of his life."Ahead of the second installment of season 4, Wolfhard addressed speculation that Will's feelings for Mike are turning romantic. “Yeah. I think you find out slowly through the season, Will’s kind of love towards Mike and I think it’s a really beautiful thing," he toldAfter Schnapp praised the Duffer Brothers for not labeling Will, the creators confirmed that there would be a resolution to the character's journey. “This is where it gets tricky since we haven’t released the whole season yet. I just want people to watch the final two episodes," Matt told TVLine.com about season 4 in June 2022. Ross, for his part, added, “We have story arcs and we have character arcs. How we structured , we’ve released the first two acts of this story. The final act, which is the last two episodes, resolves a lot of things, both character and story, and then some of it is also setting up for our final season.”After the second installment of season 4 ambiguously confirmed Will's growing feelings for Mike, Schnapp defended the decision to keep it vague due to the time period. "First of all it's the 80s and the kids a FRESHMAN in hs. Let them slowly develop the plot and when he does come out it will be really special and real," the actor wrote in the comments section of a since-deleted TikTok that questioned the writing choice in July 2022.."Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing," he told the outlet."Now it’s 100 percent clear that he is gay and he does love Mike. But before, it was a slow arc. I think it is done so beautifully, because it’s so easy to make a character just like all of a sudden be gay." He added that fans have told him they support Will's character arc even though it's been somewhat of a slow burn."People have come up to me — I was just in Paris and this, like, 40-year-old man came up to me and he was like, 'Wow, this Will character made me feel so good. And I related to it so much. That is exactly who I was when I was a kid,'" Schnapp recalled."That just made me so happy to hear. They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well."in January 2023 of his character's personal journey."They've had this vision for a long time, which you can tell even from season 1 how they wrote it with his character and how he was bullied and being called a fairy and all the way up from season 1 up until now. They've had this story line kind of in the works and I think their vision has been working really well.”Schnapp revealed in November 2025 how Will's sexuality will be a"major plot point" in the final season, telling British GQ, "Seeing how the world receives Will, and embraces him, has taught me through the years to feel OK in who I am, and how I express myself." Schnapp told British GQ.Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
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