After watching "Stranger Things" season four, part one, fans noticed that someone – either the characters or the writers — had forgotten Will Byers' birthday in the show. In an interview with Variety,
“Clearly, like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will's birthday,” Matt Duffer said. “You know how George R.R. Martin has somebody — I mean, his story is more vast — and Stephen King has someone who just keeps track of this stuff?
But that date came and went in season four without any character acknowledging it, let alone celebrating. His own mother didn't wish “WILL!” a happy birthday. That sleight wasn't intentional, which might make it even worse. Matt Duffer said they simply didn't remember what they had written six years earlier.
During one particular shot in the series' fourth season, a camera overlay reveals that it is March 22, which was established as Will's birthday earlier in the series. When asked if the miscue was intentional or simply an error, Matt Duffer said that they also forgot that Will's birthday was supposed to be that day.
Now that Stranger Things season 4 has confirmed not only Will's queerness, but also his unrequited love for Mike, it's certainly interesting to look at their relationship in retrospect. Surely, Will's feelings for his best friend didn't come out of nowhere.
Fandom. Sorry, but Byler isn't going to be canon.
Now that he's gotten older, they made it a very real, obvious thing. Now it's 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike," Schnapp explained during a postmortem interview with Variety. "But before, it was a slow arc.
That means that Will wasn't only a third wheel to Eleven and Mike that day — he was completely forgotten and dismissed by his friends. It turns out that Eleven and Mike weren't the only ones who forgot Will's birthday.
In case you missed it (shame on you!), it was Will's birthday in season 4, episode 2. During the episode, Mike arrives in California to visit Will and Eleven, who take him to the local roller-rink.
Did Stranger Things season 4 forget Will's birthday? To Ross and Matt's credit, they did admit to the mistake while talking to Variety. The next thing they'll have to do is decide whether to address that moving forward, or to just ret-con Will's birthday and change it so it's not as depressing.
The brothers told Variety that they were considering remedying the situation by changing Will's birthday to May 22, since the word "May" could easily "fit in Winona's mouth" instead of "March" in the season two scene where Joyce mentions the date. They also insisted that the mishap wasn't personal.
While it could be surmised that everyone just forgot (however mean that is), the Duffer brothers have revealed that it wasn't intentional. "The honest response is, clearly like the characters in the show, we also forgot about Will's birthday," Matt told Variety.
One in three people have made the cardinal sin of forgetting their partner's birthday – and men are twice as likely to forget, according to new research. Of those who have forgotten a birthday, it doesn't seem to happen just once.
According to the so-called "birthdaygate theory", it's not a plot hole but a massive indicator that Vecna has somehow erased everyone's memories about Will's birthday. The title card for the first episode tells us the date is March 21, 1986.
The Demogorgon eventually found Will inside Castle Byers and took him to the public library. Shortly after Will's capture, Hopper and Joyce entered the Upside Down via the Mothergate, retracing the blood-stained footsteps of the Demogorgon, and were eventually led to the library.
On November 11, 1983, a funeral was held for Will Byers after what appeared to be his body was found in the local quarry.
One revelation from the conversation was that yes, they're likely going to “George Lucas” — aka, go back and alter what's already onscreen — the mistake the show made in Episode 2 about Will's (Noah Schnapp) birthday already having been established as March 22.
The first episode of the fourth season explicitly states that the date is March 21, 1986, and that Mike (Finn Wolfhard) was planning on flying out to California the next day — i.e. March 22, Will's birthday — to visit Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Will.
When Angela got in trouble for destroying El's class project, Angela and her friends decided to get payback by humiliating El at the local roller rink. Following the incident, El finally lost her temper with Angela nd struck her in the face, giving Angela a concussion; she was left overwhelmed and in pain.
Matt Duffer said that in the original episode, they could change the audio to make Will's birthday May 22 “because 'May' can fit in Winona's mouth.” He added that it would not be the first time they changed something after releasing it.
Angela skates Eleven into the middle of the rink and the DJ puts on the song 'Wipeout' dedicating it to 'the snitch' which is how all the kids are now referring to Eleven since she didn't clear Angela's name at school (though she also did not in any way snitch).
Which makes her character, drum roll, just 13 years old when she starts canoodling with Mike's character, who is played by Finn Wolfhard. To be fair to her, a first kiss aged 13 may not be so unusual, and the action is all kept responsibly PG.
Noah confirmed that Will is in love with his best friend Mike Wheeler, played by Finn Wolfhard, but doesn't want to hurt Eleven's feelings by confessing it. Noah also said that he is hoping for Will to have a coming-out scene in the fifth and last season of the Netflix show.
In a new interview Variety, Noah has confirmed that Will is gay, and that he is in love with Mike Wheeler.
And in season 4, it became apparent to many that Will was struggling with a secret. Now actor Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, revealed to Variety that his character is indeed gay, and secretly has feelings for his best friend, Mike, who's in a relationship with Eleven.