Will’s Powers in Stranger Things Season 5 Explained: How He Has Them & What He Can Do

The long hiatus between seasons of Stranger Things gives its dedicated audience ample time to speculate on the series’s most profound mysteries. Fans construct elaborate theories to answer questions that have lingered since the show’s debut, dissecting every clue for a hint of what is to come. Among the biggest of these enigmas is Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), the boy whose disappearance started it all. Kidnapped for unknown reasons in the first episode, Will developed a strange and dangerous connection to the Upside Down, a link that has shaped his character arc. His unique affliction has been teased as a critical plot point since the very first season, and with the arrival of Season 5, the series is finally providing a clear answer about his true purpose in the war for Hawkins.

Warning: Spoilers below for Stranger Things 5, Volume 1

The first volume of Season 5 of Stranger Things wastes no time in confirming that Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) selection of Will was a deliberate act. An opening flashback reveals that after being dragged into the Upside Down in 1983, a captured Will was force-fed a mysterious substance by Vecna through a grotesque flesh vine. During this horrific process, Vecna promised the unconscious boy that they would achieve great things together. This initial contamination established a permanent bond between Will and the hive mind of the Upside Down. For years, this connection has manifested as a painful vulnerability, a way for Vecna to torment and track him. However, the new Stranger Things season sees Will finally begin to understand the true nature of this link, allowing him to tap into its power as never before and transforming him into a major asset in the fight against Vecna.

What Are Will’s Powers?

The new season methodically explores the mechanics of Will’s connection, framing him as a supernatural receiver. Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) astutely develops a metaphor, suggesting Will functions like a radio antenna. He is capable of sensing the “frequencies” that Vecna emits through the Mind Flayer particles to control his monstrous army and connect with his targets. This ability proves invaluable early on, as Will senses Vecna’s presence around Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher), Mike’s (Finn Wolfhard) younger sister, which allows the group to deduce that another child, Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), is the next victim. In short, Will is actively tracking Vecna’s movements across Hawkins, intercepting the villain’s psychic communications and giving the heroes a crucial tactical advantage.

Will’s evolution from passive sensor to active participant culminates in a stunning display of power at the end of the fourth episode. The first indication of his latent control comes when Mike theorizes that a Demogorgon hesitated to attack Joyce (Winona Ryder) because Will was unconsciously influencing its mind. This idea comes to fruition during Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1’s climax.

As Vecna’s forces overwhelm the military and the Hawkins team, the psychic feedback from the hive mind causes Will to have a seizure. Empowered by a moving speech from Robin about self-acceptance, Will stops fighting the connection and instead embraces it. He realizes that when Vecna contaminated him, the villain gave him the power to command the hive mind. In a shocking final scene, Will stops a swarm of Demogorgons mid-attack, makes them float helplessly in the air, and then graphically destroys them with his mind, mirroring the exact method Vecna uses to kill his human victims. The act causes his nose to bleed, confirming he is wielding the same kind of powerful psychic energy as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).

Is Will Stronger Than Vecna?

The full extent of Will’s newfound abilities remains one of the season’s biggest questions, but it is already clear that he has become one of the most powerful characters in Stranger Things. He can now track Vecna’s machinations, tap into the hive mind for information, command the creatures of the Upside Down, and kill them with pure telekinetic force. This specific skill set makes him the perfect counter to Vecna’s mastery of the Upside Down.

Will’s power is also fundamentally different from Eleven’s. While Eleven has traditionally been the group’s heavy hitter, a psychic force capable of closing gates and battling monsters head-on, Will’s does not need to be in the same physical location to have an effect. His connection to the hive mind means his battlefield is everywhere the Upside Down touches, as we can deduce from the death of Demogorgons far away from MAC-Z. This raises fascinating possibilities for the rest of the season. Can he turn the entire hive mind against its master? Could he sever Vecna’s connection to his creatures permanently? While it is too early to declare him stronger than the monster who created him, Will’s transformation fundamentally alters the balance of power, changing him into the one who might just save everyone.

Volume 1 of Stranger Things 5 is currently streaming on Netflix. Volume 2 arrives on December 25th, with the final episode following on December 31st.

How do you think Will’s newfound abilities will be used to defeat Vecna in the final episodes? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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