Stranger Things Star Noah Schnapp Confirms Will's Sexuality, He Is Gay

SPOILER WARNING - Continue at your own risk!

Stranger Things Season 4: Volume Two premiered on 1st July 2022, and following its conclusion, many fans were left at the edges of their seats wondering what’ll happen to the Hawkins squad next. With so many questions about the town and crew's survivability, one burning question was regarding Will Byer’s sexuality.

Throughout the series, Will Byers, played by Stranger Things star, Noah Schnapp, hints at him being homosexual. Indeed, from Seasons 1 through 3, it’s always been a slow roll of jokes or insults aimed at Will's sexuality. Although not officially disclosed, even close characters like his mom, Joyce Byers, called Will "special" and "unique."

Fortunately, we can finally put the speculation to rest without waiting for Stranger Things Season 5 to release, as Noah Schnapp finally confirmed what many fans already knew.

Stranger Things Fan Theory: Is Will Byers Gay?

Before we detail Noah's take on Will Byers' sexuality, let us first recap what we already know about him. Most noteworthy, it was only until Stranger Things 4 Volume Two that Will’s public awakening happened with Mike Wheeler while they took a road trip to free Eleven from the government who had enslaved her.

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Despite being informally and indirectly said, Will inadvertently told Mike he loved him in a discussion about Eleven and their relationship. Will structured it in a way he confesses his crush on Mike through Eleven’s love for her boyfriend. To most, this scene between the two characters showed Will coming out as gay in Stranger Things. However, since there wasn’t any official reveal, some still speculate otherwise.

Noah Schnapp Confirms Will Byers Is Gay In Stranger Things

In an interview with Variety, Will’s actor, Noah Schnapp, confirmed that Will is indeed gay in Stranger Things and that he is also madly in love with Mike. “I mean, it’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike. They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in Season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline,” Noah said.

The Stranger Things star added, “I think for Season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not, and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong.”

The actor also talked about how difficult it was to navigate Will’s identity issues. Compared with the literal hell he’s been through regarding the Demogorgon and Mind-Flayer, Will’s sexuality was something Noah had difficulty exploring in an acting role. “This season was a new thing for me. I had to explore him navigating his personal identity issues and struggling with growing up and assimilating into high school,“ he said.

Further discussing Will’s development, Noah added about his sexuality and whether Mike had been too harsh on his best friend throughout Stranger Things. After the actor spoke about how Will didn’t want to be alienated for coming out as gay and losing his friends for it, he mentioned Mike’s development alongside him as fans find him to be a bad friend.

Will constantly wants to relive the good old days; he reminisces with Mike when he and the crew would play Dungeons and Dragons together. However, despite trying to get him to play again, Mike is seemingly always focused on Eleven. Because of this, Will’s left throughout most of Season 4 feeling jealous over their relationship as he third-wheels most of the time.

Noah commented about this, “I think it’s kind of Mike dealing with his own stuff. In Season 2, they were best friends, and they were so close, and then obviously, Mike has all his eyes on Eleven. Will is dealing with a little bit of jealousy there. He just wants his best friend back.”

There are more intricate details to unravel about Noah’s confession about Will, but the bottom line is that Will is gay in Stranger Things. Although the van scene proved it already, Noah’s confirmation solidifies what most fans have already believed as true.

Will officially coming out as gay in the series depends on whether it happens in Stranger Things Season 5. But with bigger things on the agenda, including Hawkins's end, fans will have to wait and find out if there’ll be time for Will to confess his love to Mike. Or, at least come out of the closet.

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Featured image courtesy of Netflix.