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The newest episodes of Stranger Things season 5 addressed Will’s sexuality — but does Mike now know about his best friend’s crush on him?
During the second installment of the final season, which aired on Thursday, December 25, Will (Noah Schnapp) couldn’t help fight Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) until he revealed a secret he was keeping from his loved ones.
“I haven’t told any of you this because I don’t want you to see me differently, but the truth is I am different. I just pretended like I wasn’t because I didn’t wanna be,” Will told the group. “I wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted to be like my friends, and I am like you. I’m like you in almost every way.”
He continued: “We like Milk Duds in our popcorn with extra butter, and we like drinking Coke with Pop Rocks, and we like bike races and trading comics and NASA and Steve Martin and Lucky Charms and literally all the same things. I just — I don’t like girls.”
Will hinted that he “had this crush on someone” even though he knew “they’re not like” him, which viewers know references his feelings for Mike (Finn Wolfhard). The camera panned to Mike’s face but it remained unclear whether he understood what Will was hinting at with his speech.
Creator Ross Duffer confirmed Mike knows about Will’s crush on him.
“That was the intent. Once Will is talking about Tammy and all that and his experience,” Ross told People on Thursday. “It’s Mike — and his friends — all realizing and understanding now for the first time, even if Mike has been somewhat oblivious over these years, what his friend is saying.”
Ross offered a glimpse at Mike’s state of mind, adding, “He’s clocking what Will felt over the years. It’s about Will understanding who he is and being less fearful and expressing himself to all his friends and family.”
When Stranger Things debuted in 2016, viewers 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 struggled to return to his normal life as things around him changed and the monsters from the Upside Down returned. Discussion around Will’s sexuality came to light during season 3, when he got in a fight with Mike.
While Fans continued to question whether season 4 confirmed Will’s sexuality, Schnapp noted that he liked the ambiguity to his character’s love life.
“I feel like [creators Ross and Matt Duffer] never really address it or blatantly say how Will is,” he told Variety in 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.”
Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo and the rest of the Stranger Things cast have evolved tremendously since the show began in 2016. The once relatively unknown actors burst into the Hollywood industry full speed ahead after the drama’s massive success. “I don’t think Netflix thought it was going to be as huge as it became, […]
The actor praised the way Stranger Things allowed Will to explore his feelings toward 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 added.
His costar Millie Bobby Brown also applauded the show’s approach to Will’s story through the years. “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,” she shared during the joint interview. “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.”
She 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.”
Stranger Things is currently streaming on Netflix.
