Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp shut down calls to define Will Byers's sexuality.
But the biggest hint comes in episode 8, where Will and Mike are talking about Eleven in the back of Argyle's pizza van. Mike is worried that Eleven doesn't need him, and as Will begins to comfort Mike, it appears as though he's actually speaking from his own feelings. Will shows Mike a painting – which was one of the mysteries from volume 1 – which depicts the originalgroup as their fantasy characters fighting a three-headed dragon.
Will says: “When you're different, sometimes you feel like a mistake. But you make her feel like she's not a mistake at all; like she's better for being different and that gives her the courage to fight on.” Will's eyes fill with tears as he looks out the van window away from Mike, which Will's brother Jonathan sees in his rear-view mirror.
One viewer wrote: “stranger things went down in history. not for good queer rep like i’d been hoping, but rather for queerbaiting”, while another said: “THIS WAS THE BIGGEST QUEERBAITING IN HISTORY”.