{"id":2532327,"date":"2026-01-10T13:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stranger-things-directors-defend-coming-out-scene-that-had-fans-outraged\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T13:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:37:35","slug":"stranger-things-directors-defend-coming-out-scene-that-had-fans-outraged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stranger-things-directors-defend-coming-out-scene-that-had-fans-outraged\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Stranger Things&#8217; Directors Defend &#8216;Coming Out&#8217; Scene That Had Fans Outraged"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstranger-things-directors-defend-coming-out-scene-that-had-fans-outraged%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2532327&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Netflix&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/drew-brees-announces-retirement\/\" title=\"Drew Brees Announces Retirement\">final season<\/a> of Stranger Things featured a late-episode scene in which Will byers comes out as gay to his friends and family, and the group emotionally accepts him despite the show&#8217;s 1980s setting. Creators Matt and Ross Duffer defended the moment as a nine<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tokyo-olympics-here-are-the-winnersand-the-losers\/\" title=\"Tokyo Olympics: Here Are The Winners\u2026And The Losers\">-year build<\/a> for the character and actor Noah Schnapp, saying Will&#8217;s acceptance is thematically and narratively crucial-framed as the &#8220;final step&#8221; in his arc and key to overcoming the villain Vecna. The episode containing the scene received the lowest audience score of the series (5.6\/10 across about 96,000 ratings, per Variety). Reactions were mixed: many fans criticized the placement and length of the coming-out scene compared with the show&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-hollywood-destroyed-director-michael-cimino\/\" title=\"How Hollywood Destroyed Director Michael Cimino\">climactic battle<\/a>, while others supported the storytelling choice or used the controversy to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >voice broader cultural objections<\/a> to LGBTQ-focused narratives.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The popular Netflix franchise &ldquo;Stranger Things&rdquo; released the final episodes of their concluding season over the Christmas season, but those episodes weren&rsquo;t the only things that came out recently.<\/p>\n<p>Will Byers, a central character in the sci-fi mystery, announces to his friends and family that he is attracted to other boys in one of the last episodes.<\/p>\n<p>The lengthy coming out scene ends with all of the protagonists tearfully accepting Will&rsquo;s homosexuality despite the show&rsquo;s setting in the 1980s, when American culture was still broadly opposed to such behavior.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The reactions to Will&rsquo;s coming out scene&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7dvIaQEvuv\">pic.twitter.com\/7dvIaQEvuv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Stranger News (@StrangerNews11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StrangerNews11\/status\/2004998238105989298?\">December 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The moment disrupts the narrative of the characters gearing up for their final interdimensional battle against Vecna, a villain with paranormal powers who had been kidnapping children in his bid to take over the world.<\/p>\n<p>Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators and directors of &ldquo;Stranger Things,&rdquo; defended the moment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The coming out scene is something we&rsquo;ve been building to for nine years now,&rdquo; Ross Duffer said in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-creators-defend-will-coming-out-gay-review-bombing-1236621848\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was a really important scene for us, and a really important scene for Noah &mdash; not just from a thematic point of view, but also a narrative point of view,&rdquo; Ross Duffer told the outlet on Jan. 1, referring to Noah Schnapp, the actor who plays Will.<\/p>\n<p>But the episode with the coming out scene was also the lowest rated part of the series, earning a score of 5.6 out of 10 across 96,000 views, per Variety.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This 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,&rdquo; Duffer continued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And for our characters to overcome that, it really becomes about embracing themselves, and then also embracing one another and coming together.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Matt Duffer further claimed that the scene was &ldquo;the final step in Will&rsquo;s journey, and Will is, in so many ways, the key to defeating Vecna.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He also defended scenes in which Will is talking to Robin Buckley, an older adolescent protagonist in &ldquo;Stranger Things&rdquo; who is dating a girl in the series.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s trying to figure out how to come out, and he knows that he needs to do that, and that that&rsquo;s the final step for him. And he finds the courage to be able to do it. And it&rsquo;s really the ultimate f**k you to Vecna. That was the intention,&rdquo; Duffer said.<\/p>\n<p>Many fans disagreed with the Duffer brothers, taking to social media to express their disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>One user noted that the coming out scene lasted longer than the climactic final battle that ended the decade-long show.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Will&rsquo;s coming out scene was longer than the Mind Flayer battle. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qWU6lJnywX\">pic.twitter.com\/qWU6lJnywX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Cin&eacute;prism (@TheCineprism) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheCineprism\/status\/2007319065610879331?\">January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Some expressed gratitude that LGBT narratives in general appear to have fallen out of favor in more recent years in Hollywood as part of a broader cultural backlash against wokeness.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Byers comes out as gay in Stranger Things<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2532328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Michael-Featured-Image-521.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[51294,5158,69920],"class_list":["post-2532327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-lgbtq-2","tag-netflix","tag-stranger-things"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Michael-Featured-Image-521.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2532327"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2532331,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532327\/revisions\/2532331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2532328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2532327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2532327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2532327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}