Hey, have you watched this little show called Stranger Things? Who am I kidding, of course you have. And since you have, then you know that one of the best parts of the Netflix sci-fi series is its cast of relatable youngsters, from telekinetic Eleven to determined Mike, from stubborn Lucas to goofy Dustin. (FYI, this article contains major spoilers for all of Season 1.) Noah Schnapp's Will didn't have quite as much screen time in Season 1 as the rest of the kids — courtesy of the fact that he spent most of the eight episodes in the Upside Down, the parallel universe to which he was abducted by a bloodthirsty, petal-headed monster — but rest assured he'll be a major factor in Stranger Things Season 2, which Netflix was kind enough to officially announce will be happening next year.
Will's prominence in the show's sophomore season was hinted at in the finale's closing moments, as the recently rescued young boy excused himself from the dinner table to go to the bathroom… where he promptly vomited up a slimy black slug and experienced flickering flashbacks to the Upside Down. What was that all about? While Schnapp claims to not know all the details (the cast won't receive the first Season 2 scripts until mid-October, he says), the young actor does confirm that the Stranger Things Season 1 cliffhanger is certainly not good news for Will.
"If I were to guess, I think Will is maybe turning evil in the next season," Schnapp tells Bustle. "I think he threw up that slug at the end — this is just my guess — because he's incubating or holding eggs inside of him," he theorizes. "The Upside Down is permanently a part of him, and he can't get rid of it." Ruh-roh!
If Will is really afraid that he's turning evil, then why hasn't he said anything to his family? Why is he hiding his slug-burps from the mother and brother who just went to such great lengths to find him and bring him home? "When I was reading the script, I was mad. I wanted Will to tell his mom," Schnapp confesses. "He's been gone in the Upside Down for a while and he's been alone the whole time and he's also a shy kid, so maybe he's not close enough to his mother yet. He's worried she might get scared or something." Fair enough. Joyce Byers does tend to get a bit high-strung when she's stressed out.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the idea of Will turning evil is a theory I floated back in July as a way of explaining Stranger Things ' recurring references to the demogorgon, the two-headed monster from Dungeons & Dragons lore. (In this analogy, if the monster itself represented the head of "destruction," then Will represented the head of "deception.") But a slug-infected Will isn't the only threat the residents of Hawkins, Indiana will have to face off against in Season 2.
Although both of Season 1's main villains, Dr. Brenner and the monster, seemed to meet their ends in the finale (Dr. Brenner killed by the monster, the monster disintegrated by Eleven), Schnapp hints that we may not have seen the last of either of them. "Eleven ripped [the monster] apart at the end of the season, so he's either dead and there's another copy of him — could be Will — or he's still alive but she put him back in his dimension and closed the gate," Schnapp says. As for Dr. Brenner, "I just feel like he's such an important character. I don't know, I don't think he just died like that."
But when it comes right down to it, Schnapp is as in the dark as the rest of us fans. "I know just as much as you guys do, I know nothing," he says. "I'm sitting here just waiting for the next script to come out so I can see what happens." But as much as the young actor might try to claim he's just like the rest of us, there's one pretty big difference between Schnapp and the Stranger Things fanbase: he gets to find out what happens in Season 2 next month while we won't find out until next year.
That agonizing wait is enough to make anyone's brain explode, no precocious telekinetic necessary.
Images: Giphy (3)
