Noah Schnapp responds to the "Is Will Byers gay?" speculation in Stranger Things 3
10 July 2019, 15:10
Following a comment from Mike Wheeler, fans have been speculating whether or not Will Byers is gay.
Noah Schnapp has addressed the speculation from Stranger Things fans that Will Byers is gay.
Ever since Stranger Things 3 came out last Thursday (Jul 4), fans have been coming up with theories as to what's in store for us in season 4. Is [SPOILER] actually dead? Will [SPOILER] get their [SPOILER] back? Who is the American prisoner? It's currently unclear when we'll find out the actual answers to all of these questions but now Noah Schnapp has addressed a popular theory that Will Byers is gay and may come out in a later season of the show.
Is Will Byers gay in Stranger Things?
In Stranger Things 3, both Mike and Lucas are in romantic relationships with Eleven and Max respectively. Meanwhile, Dustin is besotted with Suzie from science camp. This leaves Will all on his own effectively. To make things worse, Will's friends are so invested in spending time with their girlfriends that they don't play games together anymore. This creates lots of tension between Will and the boys and it eventually reaches breaking point.
In episode 3, Mike and Lucas won't play Dungeons and Dragons properly with Will. Angry, Will tells them: "You're destroying everything, and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?" And I oop. Mike then responds: "El's not stupid. It's not my fault you don't like girls." This line in particular has convinced many viewers that Will literally doesn't "like girls" and may in fact be gay. Perhaps even Mike thinks he is.
Now, Noah has spoken about the theory with The Wrap, he said: “It’s really up to interpretation." He then continues: "I kind of just interpret it like he’s not ready to grow up and he doesn’t really want to move on to dating and relationships yet. He still wants to be a kid and play in the basement like he did in old times.”
In other words, Will could be gay but right now, relationships are not his priority.
This isn't the first time that Noah has discussed Will's sexuality either. Back in season 1, Joyce said: "[Will]'s a sensitive kid... Lonnie [Will's father] used to say he was queer, called him a fag." and people immediately started wondering if Will was gay. Taking to Instagram, Noah wrote: "So I thought it would be time to jump into the conversation. I've been reading stuff for a while. I think everyone here is missing the point."
He then wrote: "An author called Gary Schmidt came to speak at our school this week and he said that good stories aren't supposed to leave you with answers because then you never question yourself and you forget about it. A good book, or a good show leaves a lot of unanswered questions but makes you think. Which is what you are all doing. For me, Will being gay or not is besides the point."
Noah added: "Stranger Things is a show about a bunch of kids who are outsiders and find each other because they have been bullied in some way or are different. Does being sensitive, or a loner, or a teenager who likes photography, or a girl with red hair and big glasses, make you gay? I'm only 12 but I do know we all relate to being different."
He ended the comment writing: "And that's why I think the Duffers wrote the show the way they did. So you can ask all these questions. I hope the real answer never comes out!"
Essentially, it's currently unclear if Will is gay or not. We may never find out. What's beautiful about Stranger Things is that it does feature an openly queer character (we stan [SPOILER] with all our hearts). If the Duffer Brothers choose to give Will a coming out storyline in an upcoming season, we know that it will be told wonderfully.
