Noah Schnapp responds to criticism over Will’s sexuality storyline

July 5, 2022

Noah Schnapp has finally responded to criticism over Will’s sexuality storyline in season 4.

In season 4, it was almost confirmed that Will Byers is gay and he is in love with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard). Will has a conversation with Mike where has talked about Eleven but it’s crystal clear that Will is actually speaking about himself and his own feelings towards Mike.

stranger things 4 noah schnapp 3

Some viewers were hoping that Will would actually come out but it never did happen. As a result, fans were disappointed in the storyline of Will and criticized the show.

Now, Noah Schnapp has responded to that criticism by commenting on a now-deleted TikTok video.

The caption on the video reads: “Incredibly disappointing that this is the route they decided to take with Will’s sexuality. It’s just so vile that everything has to be a metaphor?? I’m so tired of vague coming out scenes in media that simply should’ve had confirmation to begin with. Will deserved to have his coming out scene with Jonathan. Will deserved to explain his painting to Mike without it being twisted into some sort of plot device for a straight couple.”

In response, Noah wrote: “First of all, it’s the 80s and the kid’s a FRESHMAN in [high school]. Let them slowly develop the plot and when he does come out, it will be really special and real.”

https://twitter.com/willeIfilms/status/1542925591002890240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1542925591002890240%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.popbuzz.com%2Ftv-film%2Fstranger-things%2Fwill-gay-sexuality-mike-noah-schnapp-criticism%2F

It looks like Will Byers will formally come out in the next installment as the makers have already confirmed that Will is the focus in season 5.

related articles

3 comments

  • Brandi Sheffield
    2 years ago Reply

    TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE 2 COMMENTS ABOVE. INSTEAD OF TRYING TO FORCE THE SUBJECT WHERE IT DOESN’T FIT AT THE TIME. ENJOY THE SHOW FOR WHAT IT IS, AND NOT PUSHING AN AGENDA.

  • AJ
    2 years ago Reply

    Amazing how many Stranger Things “80s fans” still have no idea what life was really like in the 80s. Coming out in the 80s was almost a literal death sentence for kids back then. Ostracized from family, friends, everyone because back then there WAS NO ACCEPTANCE by the masses like today.

    You think the 80s we’re rad? Then I guess you don’t remember the government practically ignoring AIDs because it only effected “the gays” until it didn’t. I guess you don’t remember being shunned from society at large for being gay.

    Everyone loves to think the 80s were cool and aesthetically pleasing, and everyone’s room looked like Ricky Schroeder’s from Silver Spoons, but it never was like that. Ever. Religion and religious prejudice were everywhere, and even doing something as mundane as playing D&D was shunned and derided as satanic. Nevermind coming out which would surely get you a scarlet letter in your community.

    That (D&D fear) was probably the only thing the Duffer brothers got right about society in 1986.

  • Emmanuel Romero
    2 years ago Reply

    Noah Schnapp does have a good point about wanting it to be a natural development at its own pace. I think it’s easy today to take for granted that we have a very well-developed language to describe the feelings and identities that come with being LGBTQ. In the ’80s – before the Internet and before more widespread media representation – Will would not have had this luxury. He’s probably very aware of how he feels, but only knows that his dad (and probably a few classmates) called him a f*g. For Will, the journey is probably a lot slower and more painful than what LGBTQ youth go through today.

    Also, not to criticize the Duffer Bros. or Maya Hawke’s character input, but I think Robin’s coming out scene in Season 3 kind of took the wind of out the sails for Will’s ongoing journey to come into himself. Hopefully, though, this will mean that when Will does come out, he’ll have Robin and Steve to help make things easy for him. We already know that Jonathan is just waiting with open arms.

Leave your comment