How Will’s “Self-Acceptance Journey” In ‘Stranger Things 5’ Leads Him To That Vol. 1 Finale Bombshell Moment: “He Is Stronger Than We All Think”
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains major plot details from the first four episodes of Netflix‘s Stranger Things 5.
The Duffer Brothers drop a huge bombshell on audiences in the final moments of Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1, and it has to do with Will Byers (Noah Schnapp).
Will has always had a connection to the Upside Down, considering he was the first kid in Hawkins to disappear into Vecna’s clutches. Since his mom Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hawkins Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) found him in the Hawkins Library at the end of Season 1, he’s continued to have a sixth sense for everything relating to the alternate dimension. But, even though his kidnapping is the catalyst for the entire series, Will has taken somewhat of a backseat in recent seasons.
That’s not the case anymore, as evidenced by the final moments of Season 5 Vol. 1. As Demogorgons are wreaking havoc on the MAC-Z, and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is preoccupied in the Upside Down, the rest of the Hawkins crew is left to figure this hellish situation one out on their own. Just as it seems like all hope is lost and the monsters are about to overpower them, something strange happens. All of the Demogorgons freeze mid-air…and Will is the one telekinetically holding them back. As the episode ends, Will looks up and wipes the blood dripping from his nose.
In our story on crafting that final scene, Schnapp and Brown make it clear the Will’s super powers will manifest differently than Eleven’s, though they possess some similarities.
The revelation about Will possessing some sort of powers comes amid what Schnapp describes as Will’s “self-acceptance journey” throughout the first four episodes of the final season, particularly as it related to the interest he’s taken in Robin (Maya Hawke) and her relationship with Vickie (Amybeth McNulty).
“When we first started talking about Season 5, we started talking about Will. He was a little bit more out of the picture in Season 4, but he’s a central character. He’s the character who kicked it all off, and a lot of this season was about going full circle and going back to the beginning, which raised questions about how he vanished and whatnot,” Matt Duffer tells Deadline. “But more than that, this was about Will’s journey in terms of finding out really who he was, and coming to terms with that. So we liked the idea of tying that into some of the more supernatural elements, that in order to become his most powerful self, he had to also really come to terms with who he is. We thought there would be no one better to help him with that than Robin, who had gone through that journey herself in Season 3. So that was an early idea to pair the two of them together. In real life, Maya and Noah have a very sweet bond. So it we knew that the two of them were going to work really well together.”
In the conversation below, Schnapp unpacks how Will’s arc in Vol. 1 leads to that face off with Vecna in the final moments of Episode 4 and teases what we should expect from the remainder of Stranger Things 5.
DEADLINE: The season opens with a flashback to right after Will gets kidnapped in the Upside Down. How much did you know about where this all was headed over the course of filming?
NOAH SCHNAPP: I did not really know much at all until we read the scripts at the table read, really. I mean, I had an idea, maybe, after Season 4. We finished, and we talked on the phone about wanting to explore the whys of why I was taken in the first place, but not to the extent we see, until I really read the script.
DEADLINE: So, how did that flashback aid you in your performance in Season 5?
SCHNAPP: Well, knowing that definitely helped me play, in Season 5, this stronger version of him, when we realize he is a lot stronger than we thought, and trying to get to that point.
DEADLINE: I think that’s an important point, because at the end of Episode 4, Vecna says he’s been targeting ‘weak’ children and he says that Will folded so easily. But we see that is not entirely the case. Do you think Vecna underestimates Will?
SCHNAPP: Oh, absolutely. I think people mistake fear for weakness. Will has had a lot of fear through the years, because of what he’s had to endure, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak. He’s pushed through that and come out stronger, and he does it scared every time. He always comes back, and he never crumbles. So that is his strength, and I think he shows that in the end, that he is stronger than we all think.
DEADLINE: How do you think that conversation with Joyce (Winona Ryder) earlier in Vol. 1, when he tells her he needs to put himself in danger if it means saving his friends, leads him to this moment at the end of 504?
SCHNAPP: Joyce has always been such an overly protective figure for him, which, I mean, in good reason. He was kidnapped from such a young age, but I think her being able to believe in him, and Robin giving him those words of affirmation helped him believe in himself. I think it was nice. It kind of mirrored my relationship with Winona in real life, where I kind of wasn’t the kid looking up to her as much as seeing eye-to-eye at this point.
DEADLINE: After Mike spends so much time telling Will that he thinks he has powers…what’s going through Will’s head in that moment he looks up and wipes the blood off his nose?
SCHNAPP: I think he’s just so wrapped up in the other world, he’s not [aware]. I tried to show that it’s not that scared Will, like he is stronger than we’ve seen before. I kind of channeled, like, a gorilla to feel that power and that strength.
DEADLINE: How was it logistically to film that scene?
SCHNAPP: It was insane. We did rehearsals for weeks before, which we’d never done before. The VFX Department made a pre-vis video where they animated out the whole sequence to map it, and then the stunt department filmed a version on their iPhones to map it out. So we had all these guides to follow through the rehearsals. Then on that day, we did a oner so we really had to have rehearsed it perfectly to get it done. Then [for] another week, it was just me kind of having fun on the playground that was that set.
DEADLINE: What did you make of the growing connection between Will and Robin this season?
SCHNAPP: I loved it. I was always wanting to work with Maya, so getting to be paired with her this season was such a joy, and I feel like our friendship on the show kind of mirrored our real-life friendship as well. I always looked up to her, and she was really a role model for me.
DEADLINE: What do you think is making Will gravitate toward her this season?
SCHNAPP: I mean, he sees a little bit of himself in her and sees a confident, more assured version of himself. So he wants to emulate that. How does he do that? He has to get to know her and learn how she reached that.
DEADLINE: We obviously see Will’s memories and the words from Robin replaying in his head right before he flexes his powers for the first time…but what do you think that her speech about having all the answers inside herself unlocked for him?
SCHNAPP: I mean, it was kind of his self-acceptance journey had come to a close, and he finally made acceptance with who he really was. Once he allowed that, he could fly and he could unleash the power within him. I think it really resonates, not just with our queer audience, but with anyone who learns to believe in themselves and accept them wholeheartedly for who they are, they can do great things. It tells a beautiful message.
DEADLINE: You’ve spoken quite a bit about Will’s sexuality. How is that and his growing relationship with Robin connected to him coming into his own with his powers?
SCHNAPP: He sees someone who overcame what he wants to overcome. So he’s trying to learn more about that. He really sees a role model in Robin. So just trying to get any information he can out of her without explicitly saying why is kind of the goal for him.
DEADLINE: Will he ever be confident enough to speak that truth?
SCHNAPP: I guess we will have to wait and see.
DEADLINE: What do you think audiences should be thinking and feeling heading into Vol. 2?
SCHNAPP: Well, for Will, we start to learn the parallels between Will and Vecna, and it almost felt very Harry Potter to me that I had to go back and re-watch the movies, because the Harry Potter-Voldemort relationship felt very close to Will and Vecna. So just exploring those parallels and what that means.
DEADLINE: Did you rewatch any of the early Stranger Things seasons?
SCHNAPP: Yes, definitely that too was prep for the season, because we tie so much back to Seasons 1 and 2. So I did rewatch the whole thing, and just [tried] to manufacture these full circle moments in scenes or settings or in costumes, to make it feel nostalgic to the beginning.
DEADLINE: What was it like to rewatch those early seasons?
SCHNAPP: Oh, it’s so special. Even watching Season 5. I’m watching Episode 1 like, ‘Whoa.’ I was in such a different place. It really helps you reflect and get taken right back to that point in your life. But it’s so special that I get to have this kind of 4k resolution filmed video footage of myself as a 10-year-old that I get to keep with me forever.
DEADLINE: How have you reflected on being part of this franchise for 10 years?
SCHNAPP: I definitely have grown with each season and with more experience. I’m never perfect, and I’m still figuring and learning new things out, but I feel like grown in the fact that I’m more confident and sure of what works and what doesn’t, and have grown to have a real point of view on what I believe should be done, whereas when I was younger, I was kind of just like going with the flow and being told what to do.
DEADLINE: Are you feeling satisfied with the conclusion of the series?
SCHNAPP: Of course, I feel very satisfied and excited for all our characters and how the show wraps up. I think it does a great job closing everyone’s individual story and doing a service to all of them.
Dessi Gomez contributed to this story.
