The Duffer Brothers are standing behind Will Byers’ storyline in the final season of Stranger Things, even though it wasn’t well-received by some corners of the fandom.
In the penultimate episode of Stranger Things Season 5, Will (played by Noah Schnapp) finally came out as gay to his friends, mom, and big brother right before their final standoff against Vecna (played by Jamie Campbell Bower).
In a postmortem interview with Variety, Matt and Ross Duffer said, “The coming out scene is something we’ve been building to for nine years now,” but the online backlash and review bombing were still loud.
Here’s a taste of some of the negative reactions:
The episode titled “The Bridge” became the lowest-rated of the entire series on IMDB with a score of 5.6 out of 10. Overall, the final season received overwhelmingly negative reviews and became the lowest-rated season on Rotten Tomatoes after the last few episodes.
Despite what some fans said, the Duffers were proud of the storyline. “It was a really important scene for us, and a really important scene for Noah — not just from a thematic point of view, but also a narrative point of view,” Ross Duffer said.
As Ross put it, Stranger Things “has always been about our characters overcoming evil.” Vecna represents that evil, and Matt Duffer added that the coming-out scene is “the final step in Will’s journey, and Will is, in so many ways, the key to defeating Vecna.”
After Will confided in another LGBTQ character, Robin Buckley (played by Maya Hawke), he was “trying to figure out how to come out, and he knows that he needs to do that, and that that’s the final step for him,” Matt continued. “And he finds the courage to be able to do it. And it’s really the ultimate fuck you to Vecna. That was the intention.”
For the backlash and review bombing, Ross defended their decision, saying, “We’re proud of the episode, and we’re proud of the scene, and proud of Noah, who gave a really brave, very vulnerable performance.”
According to Matt, the scene was significant for Noah, who came out as gay in 2023, and they stayed connected amid the mixed reactions, and were “most sensitive” when crafting this scene because of the parallels to the actor’s real life.
“Our goal was to make sure that he was comfortable and happy with the scene. And when he was, we felt good about it,” Matt said. “And when he was, we felt good about it.”
After “The Bridge” aired on Dec. 25, Matt said he was “texting with [Noah] a lot,” and “he’s in a really good place.” He added, “He’s very proud of the scene, and we’re proud of the scene.”
However, the Duffer Brothers did admit that, unfortunately, the backlash rooted in anti-LGBTQ hate wasn’t surprising, even in 2025 — and that’s so upsetting.
One minute, we have the beauty of people embracing the coming-out stories of rival hockey players who are madly in love. Then, when a character we’ve followed for a decade has his big moment, it’s ruined by negativity. Without giving too much weight to hateful tweets, it’s still rough to see so many people crap on Will’s coming out scene as if this entire show hasn’t been building to that moment.
Perhaps the scene wasn’t working for some people who were rage-tweeting on Christmas, but I know that if 13-year-old me had watched that penultimate episode, it would’ve made my closeted teenage years less of a nightmare. That scene might not be for you, and that’s okay.
What are your thoughts about Will’s coming-out scene or the Duffer Brothers’ reaction to the backlash? Share in the comments.
