{"id":382804,"date":"2026-01-02T03:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/382804\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T03:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T03:06:08","slug":"stranger-things-creators-defend-will-coming-out-amid-review-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/382804\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger Things Creators Defend Will Coming Out Amid Review Bombing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This story contains spoilers for the series finale of \u201cStranger Things<\/a>,\u201d now streaming on Netflix.<\/p>\n

\n\tMatt and Ross Duffer<\/a>, the creators of \u201cStranger Things,\u201d didn\u2019t expect the review bombing<\/a> that took place after the series\u2019 penultimate episode dropped on Netflix on Christmas Day \u2014 but they\u2019re still extremely proud.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe three episodes brought the season\u2019s Rotten Tomatoes score down to 56% \u2014 the lowest by far, with Season 4 sitting at 89%, Season 3 at 86%, Season 2 at 90% and Season 1 at 96%. \u201cThe Bridge,\u201d the seventh episode, during which Will (Noah Schnapp<\/a>) came out as gay to his friends before battling Vecna, became the lowest-rated episode of the series with a score of 5.6 out of 10 and 96,000 reviews.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe coming out scene is something we\u2019ve been building to for nine years now. It was a really important scene for us, and a really important scene for Noah \u2014 not just from a thematic point of view, but also a narrative point of view,\u201d Ross Duffer tells Variety on Jan. 1 during a lengthy postmortem<\/a> following the series finale. \u201cThis show has always been about our characters overcoming evil, and in order to overcome this evil, Vecna, in so many ways, represents all the dark thoughts and the evil of society. And for our characters to overcome that, it really becomes about embracing themselves, and then also embracing one another and coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe scene was \u201cthe final step in Will\u2019s journey, and Will is, in so many ways, the key to defeating Vecna,\u201d adds Matt Duffer<\/a>. \u201cVolume 1 is really about self-acceptance<\/a>, right? I mean, that\u2019s sort of step one. And then step two is Will is talking to Robin \u2014 it\u2019s something that he wants to do. He\u2019s trying to figure out how to come out, and he knows that he needs to do that, and that that\u2019s the final step for him. And he finds the courage to be able to do it. And it\u2019s really the ultimate fuck you to Vecna. That was the intention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCOURTESY OF NETFLIX \u00a9 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the episode was torn apart online, that doesn\u2019t change how the creators feel about it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re proud of the episode<\/a>, and we\u2019re proud of the scene, and proud of Noah, who gave a really brave, very vulnerable performance,\u201d says Ross. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe scene was extremely important for Schnapp, Matt says, and the three of them have stayed close amid the mixed reviews.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think that\u2019s where Ross and I were most sensitive, was Noah \u2014 because of how close to home this hit for him,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd our goal was to make sure that he was comfortable and happy with the scene. And when he was, we felt good about it. 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<\/p>\n

\n\tBut still, even in 2025, the online hate surprised them. \u201cNo is the honest truth,\u201d Matt says when asked whether he\u2019d anticipated the homophobic backlash. \u201cBecause 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

\n\tAfter the episode dropped, Matt also told Variety that the duo \u201cspent longer writing\u201d the coming out scene<\/a> than any other \u2014\u00a0and that it was all about collaboration.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were so concerned about getting it right. There were a lot of things that went into it. I mean, we\u2019re definitely nervous about how it\u2019s going to go over with everyone. But not as nervous as we were handing it over to Noah. Because ultimately, it needed to resonate and be truthful for him. We really were writing it to and for Noah. He wrote us sobbing after he read it. So it really worked and resonated for him, which was great,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the day, frankly, there wasn\u2019t really much direction at all. Noah spent a long time \u2014 I mean, months \u2014 prepping for that scene, that moment. Luckily, that script was done well in advance. I know he did a lot of work himself\u2026 And most of what\u2019s in there is the first take.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKate Aurthur contributed to the reporting of this story.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2022\u00a0The Duffer Brothers<\/a>\u00a0Break Down the Series Finale
\u2022\u00a0The Duffer Brothers\u00a0<\/a>on Noah\u2019s Coming Out Scene
\u2022\u00a0Noah Schnapp<\/a>\u00a0on His Emotional Coming Out in Volume 2
\u2022 Stranger Things Finale<\/a>: How It Ended, Who Survived
\u2022 Director Shawn Levy<\/a> on Key Moments of Final Season
\u2022\u00a0Noah Schnapp<\/a>\u00a0on His Powers Revealed in Volume 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPOILER ALERT:\u00a0This story contains spoilers for the series finale of \u201cStranger Things,\u201d now streaming on Netflix. Matt and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,64588,157846,64589,13671,92],"class_list":["post-382804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-matt-duffer","tag-noah-schnapp","tag-ross-duffer","tag-stranger-things","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}