'Stranger Things' producer weighs in on growing fan theory that Will is about to come out

Stranger Things 3 featured a fan-favorite coming out scene for a key character. Is Stranger Things 4 set to follow?

Last season on the hit Netflix supernatural series, fans watched Robin (Maya Hawke) come out to Steve (Joe Keery) in an emotional scene in a mall bathroom, but fans were often just as focused on the potential coming out of another Stranger Things hero in Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). Will spent the better part of Season 3 lamenting that his three male friends were all off with their new girlfriends while he just wanted to spend time with them, and a few key moments suggested to some viewers that it wasn't just because he wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons with his pals. The theory that Will is actually gay and struggling to find the right moment to come out gained a lot of steam in Season 3, and it's gained even more since the first seven episodes of Stranger Things 4 arrived last week. 

In the new episodes, we see Will react with apparent disinterest when a girl in his class tries to flirt with him, but we also see a certain longing, particularly with regard to his best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard), both before and after Mike arrives for a visit in California. Will seems particularly annoyed that Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has been lying to Mike, and crestfallen when Mike shows little interest in spending quality time with him or looking at the painting he apparently made for his friend. Later in the season, as the pair searches for Eleven, Will even makes reference to a fear of opening up to people, and it doesn't sound like he's just talking about Eleven's own secret bullying at school. For some fans, it all points to Will either preparing to confess that he's in love with Mike or preparing to simply come out as gay. 

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy confirmed that fans are right to be speculating, even if he didn't outright confirm that the theory is correct.

"Without getting into where we go later in Season 4 [Volume II], I guess I'll just say that there aren't many accidents on Stranger Things," Levy said. "There is clear intention and strategy and real thought given to each and every character. So, if you came away from Volume I feeling those bread crumbs of plot and character, it's probably no accident."

Back in 2019, when the fan theory first started to gain steam, both Schnapp and Wolfhard called the apparent clues open to interpretation, noting that there were even variations of certain key moments that would have pointed in a different direction had the show been edited differently. Now, though, it seems clear that creators Matt and Ross Duffer have some firmer direction in mind for Will: He's about to say something to someone about his feelings. We just haven't heard it yet.

Stranger Things 4 returns for its final two episodes July 1 on Netflix. 

Looking for more sci-fi TV? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock. Looking ahead, SYFY has new series The Ark in the works from original Stargate film writer/producer Dean Devlin, as well as Stargate SG-1 producer Jonathan Glassner.