‘Stranger Things’ fans have mixed feelings about Will’s sexuality
Stranger Things. But even after all this time, it’s clear the series hasn’t lost its ability to be at the center of the cultural conversation.With the initial episodes of the fourth, super-sized season hitting the streamer this past weekend, none other than sweet, innocent Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has become the focus of a lot of fan speculation and online debate over something about the character that has (thus far) gone unspoken.
And, no, we’re not talking about his bowl cut.Ever since he was rescued from the Upside Down at the end of the first season, Will has had some trouble adjusting to life right-side-up, tepidly reintegrating into his group of friends.
Sure, you could chalk that up to the fact that he saw some dark, horrifying stuff in that alternate dimension—we’re talking traumatize-you-for-life, Demagorgon stuff—but some viewers have wondered if maybe he’s struggling with something else: The fact that he might be gay.Theories about Will’s sexuality started bubbling up seasons back when it became clear that he was jealous of the time his bestie Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) were spending together.
In season four, Stranger Things appears to be fanning those flames of speculation, like the fact that, for a school presentation on heroes, Will chooses to discuss Alan Turing, the game-changing mathematician who was persecuted in the ’50s for being gay.
