Will's powers erupt in 'Stranger Things' Season 5 — but what's really driving them?
With the jaw-dropping ending of 'Stranger Things' Season 5 Volume 1, the stakes are seemingly higher than ever. The final episode of the show, titled 'Sorcerer,' centered on the Hawkins Kids trying to either stop or uncover the truth of Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). However, the unbelievable moment came when Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) replicated Vecna's powers, setting the stage for an epic showdown. However, fans are left wondering how Will attained the supernatural abilities, and we might just have the scoop.
To explain the unexpected scene in more detail, Will demonstrates astonishing new abilities when he telekinetically stops and kills three Demogorgons attacking Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) in different parts of Hawkins. His eyes turn white like Vecna's, and he snaps the monsters' limbs in the same brutal way Vecna once did to his victims, including Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink). Although Will appears to return to normal afterward, the show makes it clear that nothing in his life has been normal since his first encounter with the Upside Down, as per Screen Rant.
A major clue in Will's power reveal is the sudden nosebleed he experiences after using telekinesis, a signature side effect long associated with Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) abilities. This similarity strongly suggests that Will's powers are tied to his connection with Vecna rather than dormant abilities he always possessed. Since nosebleeds were common among Dr. Martin Brenner's (Matthew Modine) test subjects, including Eleven and Henry Creel/Vecna, Will showing the same physical strain supports the idea that he is replicating Vecna's psychokinesis rather than developing independent powers.
Will also reveals that his connection to Vecna and the Upside Down was never truly broken, and being near Hawkins only strengthens it. This link ties him directly to the hive mind, which is an interconnected network controlling everything in the Upside Down, from Demogorgons to vines. While Vecna originally used this bond to spy and manipulate, the connection backfired when Will learned to interpret what he saw through Vecna's perspective. This allowed Will to sense threats, anticipate attacks, and help the group prepare, turning the hive mind into a strategic advantage even before he tapped into Vecna's powers.
Notably, the premiere of 'Stranger Things' Season 5 briefly crashed Netflix at 5 pm PT, pulling the service for a brief time. Tens of thousands of viewers encountered an error screen message, "Something went wrong. Sorry, we're having trouble with your request." The outage lasted about three minutes, though some users continued to face minor bugs. By 5:05 pm, the platform was working for most people. Variety reached out to a Netflix spokesperson, who said, "Some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TV devices, but service recovered for all accounts within five minutes."
