{"id":213348,"date":"2026-01-02T15:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/213348\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T15:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:06:12","slug":"duffer-brothers-didnt-expect-hate-review-bombing-for-wills-coming-out-scene-in-stranger-things-s5-proud-of-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/213348\/","title":{"rendered":"Duffer Brothers didn’t expect hate, review bombing for Will’s coming out scene in Stranger Things S5: ‘Proud of it’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Updated on: Jan 02, 2026 10:46 am IST <\/p>\n

Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have defended Noah Schnapp’s character Will coming out on the show, even as the episode gets review bombed. <\/p>\n

As Stranger Things<\/a> Season 5 Volume 2 dropped on Christmas, episodes 5-7 of the final season of the show began streaming on Netflix<\/a>. The episodes set up the show\u2019s grand two-hour finale that streamed on New Year\u2019s Eve (and New Year’s morning in some parts of the world). But even as the volume was praised, a scene of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) coming out to his family and friends drew criticism. It was also subject to review bombing, with a disproportionate amount of 1-star reviews on IMDb for the episode, most originating from Saudi Arabia and South Asia.<\/p>\n

\"Noah Noah Schnapp played Will Byers on Stranger Things. Duffer Brothers defend Will Byers’ scene<\/p>\n

In an interview with Variety <\/a>after the release of the show\u2019s finale, creators Duffer Brothers addressed the backlash. When asked if they expected the homophobic hate the show has received online, Matt Duffer said, \u201cNo is the honest truth. Because it is, as Ross said, something we\u2019ve been building for a really long time. I always say, Ross and I are many things, but subtle is not one of those things!\u201d<\/p>\n

All episodes of Stranger Things S5 are rated 7.9 or above on IMDb, with the exception of Chapter Seven: The Bridge, in which Will Byers comes out to his family before the climactic battle. The episode is rated 5.6, worst in the show\u2019s history, and the only episode from the show rated below 6.5.<\/p>\n

Yet, the Duffers say they are proud of how it turned out. \u201cWe\u2019re proud of the episode, and we\u2019re proud of the scene, and proud of Noah, who gave a really brave, very vulnerable performance. I\u2019ve been texting with him a lot, but texting with him specifically after that scene and after that episode aired. And he\u2019s in a really good place. He\u2019s very proud of the scene, and we\u2019re proud of the scene,\u201d Ross Duffer said.<\/p>\n

About Stranger Things<\/p>\n

Stranger Things Season 5 came to an end with its finale, S5E8, on January 1. The show premiered in 2016 and spanned 42 episodes across five seasons. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential TV shows of the 21st century, turning its young actors into overnight stars.<\/p>\n

\"\" News<\/a> \/ Entertainment<\/a> \/ Web Series<\/a> \/ Duffer Brothers didn’t expect hate, review bombing for Will’s coming out scene in Stranger Things S5: ‘Proud of it’ <\/p>\n

See Less <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated on: Jan 02, 2026 10:46 am IST Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have defended Noah Schnapp’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,107401,69,129263,3197,57037,437,129262],"class_list":{"0":"post-213348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-noah-schnapp","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-review-bombing","14":"tag-stranger-things","15":"tag-stranger-things-season-5","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-will-byers-coming-out"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}