By 
As the clock ticks down to the final episodes of Stranger Things, it’s getting wild out there in the internet streets. Speculation and fan theories are rampant, with viewers eagerly dissecting the latest Volume 2 trailer and combing through cast interviews with an occasionally frightening zeal. Who will survive? How will Vecna be defeated? And will poor Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) ever catch a boyfriend break?
For those that don’t know, a huge portion of the Stranger Things fandom has been not-so-secretly hoping that best friends Will and Mike (also known as “Byler”) will discover their friendship is something more than strictly platonic. (Don’t believe me? There are over 65,000 TikToks tagged “byleredit” right now. A surprising amount of them are set to Hozier.) And Stranger Things has, in some ways, leaned into this idea, using Will’s obvious crush on his bestie to tease out the show’s exploration of his sexuality.
To be fair, the show has largely depicted Will’s journey with a deft hand. While it’s fair to complain that the show sidelined the character too heavily in recent seasons, it’s never punched down at him for his feelings or made them into a joke for the other characters to laugh at. Instead, Will’s acquired a sort of mentor in Robin (Maya Hawke), who spent most of season 5’s first volume trying to help the younger boy sort out not only his sexual orientation, but his self-worth, offering comforting advice about what it means to feel so different in a world that expects everyone to be the same.
But then, of course, Will finally got powers and saved Mike’s life in one of the series’ most impressive scenes to date, and suddenly, anything seems possible. With the character finally coming into his own like this, could Will actually confess his true feelings to his best friend? Maybe. But don’t hold your breath that it means Byler’s destined for a happy (or at least non-platonic) ending.
Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, has already cast doubt on whether the friends might ever become something more, insisting that a romance between them at this point “wouldn’t feel that earned”. Now, during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Schanpp also seemingly downplayed the idea of a surprise Byler endgame. (Sorry, guys.)
“Oh man, are we live? Um,” he laughed, when asked about his reaction to the viewers who want Will and Mike together romantically. “I think… I mean look, it’s like a real kind of authentic representation of a queer kid in the ‘80s. I’ve dealt with that myself, being in love with a friend and maybe they don’t love you back, or they feel differently.”
Not exactly the most ringing endorsement of a Will and Mike endgame we’ve ever heard. But, while it seems unlikely that a real romance is in the offering, that doesn’t mean that Stranger Things won’t use these final episodes to reinforce how much the two best friends who’ve been at the center of the show since its beginning mean to one another.
And, if you believe Schnapp about this, you probably also have to believe him that the show sticks the landing. (And that has to count for something.)
“I’m not gonna spoil anything,” he said. “But I think the Duffers close it really well.”
Stranger Things season 5 volume 2 premieres on Netflix at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 25. Volume 3 premieres Wednesday, December 31, at 8 p.m. ET.
The post Noah Schnapp Weighs in On the Mike and Will Relationship Ahead of Stranger Things Finale appeared first on Den of Geek.
