One concerning Stranger Things season 5 theory is that Will is going to die. His connection to the Upside Down made him a focus of the first two seasons, but he’s been on the sideline for the last two. However, this is going to change in the fifth and final season, according to showrunners The Duffer Brothers, and this new focus might spell his untimely doom.
Is Will going to die in Stranger Things Season 5?
The possibility that Will is going to die in the last season is higher than ever. In the last episode of the fourth season, it is revealed that Will senses the possible return of Vecna before anyone else. We know that Will has a deep psychological connection to the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer from season 2, and by extension Vecna. Being in the Upside Down for the majority of the first season couldn’t have done anything nice to him, either. Now that Will’s older, we know that The Duffer Brothers have something special lined up for him in the fifth season, according to Matt Duffer in an interview with Collider:
“Will’s going to be a big part and focus, is all I can say of Seasons 5, in his journey. We’re starting to see his coming of age, really. Which has been challenging for a number of reasons, some of which are supernatural. But you’re starting to see him come into his own.”
This makes sense based on the “Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down” official companion book, which reveals Will’s D&D character as a magic user just like Vecna. Like many sorcerers and wizards in RPGs, be in tabletop or video games, they tend to helpless and squishy at the start but then become uber-powerful later on.
However, as one prominent theorist bunkyy on Tiktok explains, Will’s character has a true neutral alignment whereas Vecna’s is neutral evil based on D&D lore. This big bad is also traditionally a lich, an undead entity that extends his life artificially by implanting his soul into other objects, similar to horcruxes in Harry Potter. As such, with Vecna injured at the end of the fourth season he may have a plan on possessing Will’s body or consuming him to gain his powers, similar to what he did to Max. Some even believe that Vecna was the one who abducted Will in the first place in season one and intentionally kept him alive for this very purpose. If this happens, Will may need to die in order to prevent this from happening or that it may take his sacrifice to kill Vecna outright and awaken a brain-dead Max from her coma.
In other news, pre-orders for NBA 2K23 are available on multiple platforms, and Skull and Bones’ single-player campaign has been detailed with the Xbox One and PS4 versions canceled.
