Stranger Things' Will Byers coming out scene was different in the original draft

28 December 2025, 22:07

By Katie Louise Smith

"Originally, it was just going to be Joyce in the original draft of the outline."

Stranger Things 5 episode 7 ('The Bridge') dropped an absolutely insane amount of important lore about the Upside Down, but there was also another really important moment that happened in that episode: Will Byers' coming out scene.

After finally finding self-acceptance following several conversations with Robin in season 5, Will later confides in his mother Joyce about Vecna preying on his vulnerabilities and secrets and using them against him and his loved ones. And so, just before the final battle, Will opens up about his sexuality and comes out.

But instead of an intimate moment shared between a few people close to Will, he ended up coming out to a large group including several characters he's not close to and one character he's never even met before. This decision has garnered quite a bit of criticism and left some viewers confused.

Creators Matt and Ross Duffer have now explained exactly why Will came out to the group, and how the original draft of the scene was different.

• Read more: Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp addresses Will and Mike romance theories
• Read more: Stranger Things 5 finale episode runtime confirmed

In an interview with Variety, Ross Duffer revealed that they originally intended for Will to come out in season 4, but they couldn't find the right time to do it justice. Thankfully, season 5 allowed for them to flesh it out and make it an important stand out moment, as it should be.

"Will’s coming out is something we’ve been talking about and wanting to do for a very long time," Ross said. "Originally, it was going to be in Season 4, and we just realised we didn’t have the space to do it properly. And I’m glad we didn’t, because it really gave us time to arc an entire season toward this—toward this one moment."

Initially, Will's coming out was going to be an intimate moment between him and his Joyce, one of Will's most trusted people in his life. That then changed when the Duffers realised that Will's worries about his sexuality and how people may respond to finding out is something that Vecna could and would, heartbreakingly, exploit.

"Originally, it was just going to be Joyce in the original draft of the outline," Ross continued. "And the scene was not hitting properly. We realised that Joyce is an important part of this, but he really needed to do it in front of everyone."

At first, viewers think Will is going to come out to Joyce. Mike then walks in and Will tells him he should be there for what he's about to say too. Then it cuts to Will coming out to the entire group—Joyce, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Eleven, Jonathan, Nancy, Max, Robin, Steve, Vickie, Murray and Kali.

Explaining why Will decides to come out to everyone, Ross added: "Yes, he is starting to embrace himself, which we see in Volume 1. But what he realises is that there’s still something in there that Vecna exploits—which is that he hasn’t told anyone about this. That ultimately led to the coming out scene."

Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, has also weighed in on the scene. Speaking to Tudum, even he admitted that he thought it was just going to be Will confiding in Joyce but was ultimately happy with the way it turned out.

"I thought the scene would be just with his mom," he said, before adding: "So for it to happen with the entire cast sitting there watching him was just so special."

"I remember when I finished that scene, I ran into Charlie Heaton’s arms and was just crying. And with the cast, I never really got to sit them down and have that conversation about my own coming out, so getting to do it was totally therapeutic and cathartic for me," he continued.

Noah came out in January 2023 after posting a TikTok to his millions of followers. He previously shared that he decided to come out because of Will, after seeing the outpouring of love for the character and his sexuality.

"I think mostly we were nervous, as we just wanted to do right by Noah. Obviously, we’ve been working with him for so long, since he was a little kid, and we knew that this scene, obviously, we’ve talked about it over the years with him,” Ross continued in the same Variety interview.

"We knew it was important, and we all wanted to get it right. There’s not a scene, I don’t think, in the entire series that we spent as long on as we did that coming out scene, just working it and working it until it felt right to us.”

"The litmus test was giving it to Noah, but then seeing how he responded to it and reacted to it gave us confidence," he added.

Read more about Stranger Things 5 here:

• Stranger Things' Duffer brothers say they have not filmed multiple endings
• Will's powers in Stranger Things 5 explained in full
• Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp says he'd still be closeted if Will wasn't gay in the show
• Here's why Stranger Things 5 recast Holly Wheeler with new actress
• Where to watch Stranger Things The First Shadow online

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