Stranger Things is bringing everything back to the beginning with the upcoming fifth and final season, which is set to kick off with a flashback featuring a de-aged Will Byers.
"It was weird. I will say that I had to work with a younger kid, which was actually really cool and a full circle moment for me, because it felt like, 'Oh, wow, now I'm the adult telling this kid what to do, and I'm no longer that little boy being told where to stand,'" Will actor Noah Schnapp told SFX magazine. "It just helped me reflect on all the years that passed, and he was a really sweet kid. And I got my little taste of directing, and worked with him for a few days on set to get his physicality and running and breath work the same as mine. Then they put me in a tent and had me do all these different expressions and faces, like fear, and running and all these things. It was so weird.
"And then the VFX team worked on it for months. I mean, there were these VFX people who told me, 'Noah, I have been working with 11-year-old you for the past six months, watching every video of you.' It's like, 'Oh, that's weird.' But then they stamped it onto that little kid, and we got this cool little flashback scene, which is fun," he added.
And, after all these years, it sounds like Schnapp is also ready to say goodbye. "I've played him for so long, I'm so ready to play another character," he explained. "Will Byers is my baby, I love him dearly. But is it hard for me to let go? I'd say I’m more excited to explore what's next for acting purposes, but I love him, and he's shaped me, and I've shaped him, and I'm so thankful that I've gotten to play that character for all these years."
The first full-length trailer for Stranger Things season 5 had fans theorizing that Will would be very important to the new season, and, judging by this opening flashback, that seems to be true. We'll just have to wait and see.
Stranger Things season 5 is arriving in three parts, with Volume 1 landing on Netflix on November 26, Volume 2 on December 25, and the finale on December 31. While you wait, check out our guide to all the best Netflix shows to stream now.
