.jpg)
Fans have speculated about Will’s sexuality for many seasons, and have gathered a handful of clues from ST4 to further their case for the youngest Byer being gay: Will’s many longing looks at and coded conversations with Mike, his choice of gay mathematician Alan Turing as his hero for the school project, and more specifically, his heart-to-heart with Mike in Episode 5.
“Sometimes, I think it’s just scary, to open up like that, to say how you really feel, especially to people you care about the most,” says Will. “Because what if they don’t like the truth?”
Will is the only member of the young Hawkins gang who has not developed a romantic relationship throughout the series: Dustin has Suzie, Lucas has Max, and Mike has El. While many fans have voiced their hopes for a coming out scene for the character, actor Noah Schnapp wants to remind viewers that labels aren’t everything.
“I feel like they never really address it or blatantly say how Will is,” Noah told Variety of the show’s writers. “I think that’s the beauty of it, that it’s just up to the audience’s interpretation. If it’s Will kind of just refusing to grow up and growing up slower than his friends, or if he is really gay… I find that people do reach to put a label on him and just want to know, so badly, like, ‘Oh, and this is it.’ He’s just confused and growing up. And that’s what it is to be a kid.”
However, David Harbour (Hopper) recently hinted during a Netflix promo video with his castmates that Will definitely has a crush, and that it is indeed a member of the Hawkins gang. When asked their thoughts on a theory about Will and Eleven being in a secret romance, David was visibly surprised. “If you’ve been watching the show, you should know that Will is not interested in El,” said David. “He’s interested in someone else in the group… he’s very interested.”
“Yeah, and you’ll see soon who he’s interested in,” Finn Wolfhard (Mike) added in the video.
During a voiceover from Eleven in Episode 1, she notes that Will “refuses” to show her a painting he’s been working on tirelessly, making her believe it’s for a girl he likes. Yet, later in the episode Will is seen shying away from a girl who tries to flirt with him in class. Will takes the painting with him to greet Mike at the airport, a detail that led fans to wonder whether the painting is of or for Mike, and whether Will has romantic feelings for his friend — a speculation that gains more weight with the inclusion of multiple scenes in Episodes 8 and 9.
While trying to assure Mike about Eleven’s devotion to him, Will finally reveals the painting, a D&D-inspired tribute to his friends that depicts Mike leading their fight against a dragon. (Will also lies to Mike, saying that Eleven asked him to paint it, “basically told [him] what to draw.”)