Noah Schnapp has confirmed that his Stranger Things character Will Byers is gay, and is in love with his best friend Mike Wheeler.
Speaking to Variety, the 17-year-old opened up about the importance of his character’s “slow arc” in the hit Netflix series.
He told the outlet, “Obviously, it was hinted at in Season 1, It was always kind of there, but you never really knew, is it just him growing up slower than his friends? Now that he’s gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing.”
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“Now it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike. But before, it was a slow arc,” Noah continued.
He explained that the paced portrayal of Will’s sexuality was done “beautifully”.
“They are writing this real character and this real journey and real struggle and they’re doing it so well,” he said.
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Noah told the outlet he felt like it would be a spoiler to confirm Will was journeying through discovering his sexuality.
“I think it has been tricky,” he explained. “Years ago in Season 1, I didn’t know where the Duffers wanted to go with this character. So I was kind of figuring it out along with the audience.”
“But now that I’ve spoken to them and seen the show, I know what they want to do with it,” he said.
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Noah added that Will’s “multifaceted trauma” has been challenging in his growth, because he has been affected by so many different things.
“…I really have to take into account, like, this isn’t just a single layer thing of he’s struggling with coming out…,” he explained to Variety. “He was taken by the Demogorgon and then his friends, they never acknowledged him, and now he’s scared to come out and doesn’t know if they’ll accept him.”
Stranger Things fans were delighted when Noah confirmed their theories that Will is gay, and in love with his best friend Mike.
One Twitter user wrote, “noah schnapp confirming will byers is gay and in love with mike on a random thursday night is the best thing ever,” while another said, “my life started the day that will byers was confirmed canonically gay and confirmed that he has always been in love with mike.”
noah schnapp confirming will byers is gay and in love with mike on a random thursday night is the best thing ever
— 🥯 halo 🥯 | byler is semi-canon (@willbyers_lover) July 15, 2022
Stranger Things 4 Vol.1 was released on May 27, and the last two episodes which made up Vol. 2 were released on July 1.
After Vol. 2 was released, the show was watched for 188.2 million hours between July 4 and July 10 – it’s first full week of availability.
However, it may be a while before the hit Netflix series returns.
The writing staff are expected to return to work in August for the fifth and final season, while shooting isn’t expected to start until 2023.
