Warning! Major spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5, volume 1, including the ending of episode 4. Stranger Things‘ big Will moment in season 5, episode 4, takes the spotlight in an emotional new video from the episode’s full-cast table read. After a three-year wait, the hit Netflix series returned in November with volume 1, and the four-episode arc concluded with Noah Schnapp’s Will Byers saving the day by channeling Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) powers.

The official Stranger Things YouTube channel now provides a peek behind the curtain at what it was like for the cast to experience the unveiling of Will’s superpowers at the episode’s table read. Check it out below:

With Matt Duffer – one half of the creative force behind the show that also includes his brother, Ross Duffer – reading scene description, the video shows Schnapp and other cast members like Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Linda Hamilton, among others, all expressing their excitement at the big reveal. The room erupts into cheers and claps upon the episode’s dramatic ending.

After Will took a bit of a backseat in seasons 3 and 4, Stranger Things season 5 puts Schnapp’s character back into center stage. Will has long been teased to have some kind of connection to the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer, but that has previously manifested itself mostly as goosebumps on the back of his neck.

The reveal of Will’s powers sets him up for a crucial role in the remaining episodes. Though Will wiping blood from his nose immediately draws comparisons to Eleven, the Duffers confirmed to Variety that he doesn’t technically have his own powers, he’s just tapping into Vecna’s. As Ross explains:

It’s different in that he’s able to channel Vecna’s powers. But they’re all related. Vecna and Eleven, their powers are similar. The powers aren’t within him. He’s able to channel these powers from Vecna and use it, sort of puppeteering.

Will uses his powers to kill the Demogorgons threatening his friends, essentially saving the day, but Vecna’s return in the episode’s final moments reinforces that the fight isn’t over yet. After announcing his plan to dominate the entire world, Vecna chooses to let Will live, returning to his Upside Down lair.

Vecna’s slaughtering of the military in the MAC-Z at the end of Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1, makes clear that traditional weaponry is essentially useless against him. Eleven and her powers were previously the only real threat Vecna faced, but Will is evidently now poised to play a crucial role as things continue to escalate in Hawkins.

It remains to be seen how the larger Stranger Things story will wrap up, but Will’s time on the sidelines is clearly over. Netflix subscribers can see how the saga concludes later this month when Volume 2 releases on December 25, and the finale releases on December 31.

Release Date

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock