The actress who plays Eleven, Millie Bobby Brown, is married to Jake Bongiovi (son of Jon Bon Jovi) in real life, having wed in May 2024 and later having a second ceremony; they also recently welcomed an adopted baby girl together in 2025, while Eleven's character in Stranger Things is romantically involved with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard).
A lot has changed in the three years since we last saw Eleven and the gang face Vecna. Millie Bobby Brown married Jake Bongiovi in May 2024, and the couple has since adopted a baby girl. She is not the only one whose love life has made headlines.
Yes, several Stranger Things cast members have dated in real life, most notably Natalia Dyer (Nancy) and Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), who have been a couple since meeting on set around 2016, mirroring their on-screen romance. Other cast members like Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Joe Keery (Steve), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) have also had public relationships or marriages outside the show, but Dyer and Heaton are the most prominent couple from the series.
Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi
Brown's Eleven has been romantically linked to Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) throughout Stranger Things. Off-screen, Brown is married to Bongiovi, the son of musician Jon Bon Jovi. The couple quietly wed in May 2024 before exchanging vows again in Italy that October.
Before they embark into the Upside Down, Will comes out as gay to his family and close friends, explaining that Vecna showed him visions of his failed and distant relationships with his loved ones after they learnt the truth.
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Will Byers is in love with Mike Wheeler, not Eleven, a romantic feeling confirmed by actor Noah Schnapp and heavily implied throughout Stranger Things, especially in Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5, where Will struggles to express his unrequited love for Mike, who is in a relationship with El. Will's feelings manifest through art, particularly a significant painting for Mike, and subtle cues, though Mike initially misunderstands them as platonic or El's feelings.
Yes, the actors who play Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) in Stranger Things have been dating in real life since around 2016/2017, after meeting on the show, though they keep their relationship private and low-key. Their real-life romance mirrors their on-screen connection, with them appearing at events together and expressing mutual support.
Yes, Max and Lucas get together and stay together through the end of Stranger Things, with the series finale showing them happy and in love, watching a movie in the aftermath of the chaos, solidifying their status as a couple that navigated immense trauma and emerged stronger. They are one of the few main couples to end up together, symbolizing a hopeful future beyond high school and the Upside Down, despite the Duffer Brothers hinting at future challenges for "Lumax".
Eleven's primary love interest in Stranger Things is Mike Wheeler, with their relationship evolving from a deep friendship to a romantic bond, often called "Mileven" by fans, marked by mutual support, shared trauma, and declarations of love, though their dynamic faces challenges like distance and insecurities about losing each other.
[Stranger Things] Eleven is officer Hopper's daughter. Hawkins lab was trying to achieve children with psychic abilities to fight the monsters of the upside down. Hopper's daughter is still alive. Her cancer episode you see in season 1 wasn't cancer, she WAS seeing monsters from the Upside-Down.
I know she referred to Hopper as her dad when she was giving her presentation in class.
Yes, according to the show's creators, Mike did realize that Will's "crush" in his coming-out speech referred to him, even though it wasn't explicitly stated in dialogue; his reaction shots and subsequent apology scene were designed to show he understood the depth of Will's feelings, though the payoff for their storyline was minimal in the finale.
Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler finally cleared the air on the status of their relationship after two seasons of tension. Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) have been together since their first kiss in Season 2 of the hit Netflix supernatural show.
Natalia Dyer was 21 years old when Stranger Things Season 1 was released in 2016, portraying the character Nancy Wheeler, who was around 16 years old in the show.
Their romance wouldn't sail until season 2 though, after Stancy broke up because Nancy said that their relationship was "fake" while drunk during a party. After that, Nancy and Jonathan grew closer while trying to bring justice for Barb's death and finally kissed after some encouragement from Murray.
While Nancy Wheeler loses her virginity to Steve Harrington, Barb Holland awakens in a waterless, dark version of Steve's pool, every surface covered in fleshy black vines.
Vecna targets Will Byers because Will shares deep psychic similarities, being a sensitive outsider, and became a crucial anchor or "phylactery" for Vecna's power after being connected to the Mind Flayer; Vecna sees Will as a vessel, a mirror of himself, and potentially a key to his immortality, needing him alive to maintain his own strength while also wanting to corrupt and use him.
Mike finally says that he loves her. In the Void, El becomes emotional when Mike tells her he has always loved her, and that he was afraid to say it out of fear that if El ever left him, it would make that day hurt even more.
The first character to say the "f-word" in Stranger Things was Will Byers, who uttered it during a heated argument with his friends in Season 1, shocking viewers as he was typically soft-spoken, with later significant uses by characters like Billy Hargrove.
(Not Vecna, the other thing.) And when Robin realizes this, that Will isn't horrified by what he saw — in fact, just the opposite — she takes him under his wing. She tells him about how it felt to realize she was gay, and then accepting that part of herself instead of fighting it.
The "worst" Stranger Things episode is subjective, but Season 2's "The Lost Sister" (S2E7) is a long-standing contender for its filler-like nature and momentum break, while Season 5's penultimate episode, "The Bridge" (S5E7), recently became the lowest-rated on IMDb due to slow pacing and controversial story choices, sparking review bombing from some fans. Both episodes are criticized for feeling detached from the main story, though "The Lost Sister" developed Eleven's past, and "The Bridge" faced backlash over Will's storyline and heavy exposition.