Is Will from Stranger Things gay?

One of the major character arcs of season 4 of Stranger Things involved Will’s sexuality. Right from the first episode of volume 1, everyone was curious about Will’s painting and wondered if he was gay?

Will is gay and in love with Mike. Noah Schnapp confirms this in an interview with Variety. He further adds that his sexual orientation was hinted at in season 1, but after season 4, it is 100% clear.

Nothing had been explicitly revealed in the show, but in the character’s interactions with Mike and his brother Jonathan, it is pretty evident that he is struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. Here are a few obvious clues the Duffer Brothers left for us in season 4, volumes 1 and 2.

The very first one is Will’s painting. Eleven tells us that it might be the picture of some girl he likes, but as we know, later on, it was a picture of the boys fighting a dragon, with Mike leading the team.

When Mike comes to visit El for spring break, he hugs her. However, his greeting with his childhood friend, Will, is somewhat awkward. In fact, the latter is visibly uncomfortable as he shakes Mike’s hand.

As we see the three spend time together, Will gets a little annoyed and perhaps even jealous of El because Mike wasn’t giving him any attention. Later, he confronts Mike about how the latter sent so many letters to El but didn’t even call him once.

They say adversities either bring people together or cause a lifelong rift between them. In this case, it did bring the two closer. Will helped Mike with his insecurities about not being good enough for Eleven and his fear of losing her. But, everything wasn’t okay with Byers.

In volume 2, Noah’s character finally reveals the painting. We Will, Lucas, and Dustin fighting a dragon, and they’re being led by Mike. He explains how Mike has always been there with people, and that’s his biggest strength. That’s precisely what makes him a leader. So, El, out of all people, will always need someone like him to be there. 

After this, Byers starts crying and tries to hide it, but Wheeler doesn’t even notice it. If all these scenes didn’t make it clear, there’s more. At one point, Will says, “When you’re different, sometimes you feel like a mistake.”

This dialogue is perhaps the most blatant hint of all. Furthermore, after the show ended, Noah Schnapp himself confirmed that Will was indeed gay and very much in love with Mike.

Now that this is confirmed, it would be interesting to see how the Duffer Brothers bring closure to this part of Will’s arc. Season 5’s dates have not been announced yet, but we’ll likely see the saga conclude by mid or late 2023.

About Stranger Things

Stranger Things is an American sci-fi horror TV series created by The Duffer Brothers for Netflix. 

Set in the 1980s in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the show follows the story of a young girl called Eleven, who has superpowers and her adventures with her group of friends. These dangerous adventurers include surviving in and saving a town that has an evil parallel universe attached to it called the Upside Down.

It stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, and Maya Hawke. The show has been renewed for a fifth and final season.