November 10, 2021
Will 'Stranger Things' Venture into Gayer Things?
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A new trailer suggests that a fan theory about a possibly LGBTQ+ character might turn out to be true when the Netflix series "Stranger Things'' returns for its fourth season next summer, CBR.com reported.
Though the season premiere of the '80s-set series won't be for months, new trailers dropped on Nov. 6 – dubbed by fans as "Stranger Things Day" – that teased "several new hints about the happenings in the coming season," CBR said.
Along with glimpses of some of the characters' new lives in California was a moment that may or may not have hinted at "an old theory about Will," a central character who was trapped in another dimension in the show's first season.
The new trailer included a moment in which "Will was working on a project about [Alan] Turing, the British mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst and philosopher," CBR detailed.
"Turing was an important figure during WWII," the article continued, "and his efforts in codebreaking played a critical part in numerous Allied victories."
He was also gay, and when this was discovered about him, Turing was punished with "chemical castration" and committed suicide by eating a poisoned apple.
CBR recalled that fan rumors about Will's sexuality started swirling early in Season Three, when, during an argument between Will and his best friend Mike, "Mike blurted out, 'It's not my fault that you don't like girls.'"
The actor who plays Will, Noah Schnapp, responded to fan theories about his character being gay by saying Will's sexuality is "besides the point," CBR said.
"'Stranger Things' is about a bunch of kids who are outsiders and find each other because they have been bullied in some way or are different," Schnapp said.
True enough, but, CBR pointed out, "it has also increasingly become about how those same misfits have started having relationships." All the show's main characters except for Will have found someone to love.
That might change in Season Four, which premieres in Summer 2022. Stranger things have happened.
Watch the Season Four trailer below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
