Will (Noah Schnapp) and Robin’s (Maya Hawke) dynamic expands in a new direction in Stranger Things 5, and it’s a nice surprise. Both characters are firm members of Stranger Things’ core crew, with Will’s disappearance being the instigator of the entire plot of the Netflix show. Meanwhile, Robin was introduced a bit later, in Season 3, as a colleague of Steve’s (Joe Keery). Will and Robin have operated in different circles for much of Stranger Things, with Robin typically grouped with the other teens (Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan), while Will sticks with his friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas.
Stranger Things 5 has merged those worlds, with Will and Robin suddenly operating much more closely in the 18 months since Season 4 ended with Vecna opening a rift to the Upside Down in Hawkins. The two have been brought together by their connections to the broader Stranger Things group, and it’s clear that by the time Season 5 begins, a friendship has developed between them.
That friendship progresses quickly on-screen in Stranger Things 5, to the point that many fans are wondering exactly what the nature of Will and Robin’s relationship is.
Does Will Like Robin? Their Emotional Moments In Season 5, Explained
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As their groups are working together closely to enact plans to hunt down Vecna in Stranger Things 5, Will and Robin have a lot more interactions together.
One memorable moment at the start of the season sees Will visiting a comatose Max at Hawkins Hospital, while Robin is visiting Vickie (Amybeth McNulty), her secret girlfriend. After some light flirting in Season 4, Robin and Vickie are confirmed to be in a relationship in Season 5, but they are keeping it under the radar due to social prejudices against queer couples that existed during that period.
While at the hospital, Vickie and Robin share an intimate moment, which Will witnesses as he passes by. Will watches as Robin and Vickie kiss, appearing to be intrigued, until he drops a can of Coke and exposes himself. Later, Robin addresses the moment with Will, hoping that he will keep her and Vickie’s affairs quiet, but he denies seeing anything.
In Episode 2, Robin supports Will in his plan to find Vecna via the hive mind, going against Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) wishes, which further affirms their burgeoning friendship.
Still mulling over Robin and Vickie, Will comes to Robin for advice, asking how she knew that Vickie was into her. While Will is playing coy about why he wants to know this information from Robin, fans will recognize that it’s linked to his feelings toward Mike and his desire to understand whether Mike might have feelings for him in return:
Robin: “Well, we volunteered together. You know, there were, like, signals.”
Will: “Signals?”
Robin: “Yeah, you know, like a brush of the knee, a bump of the elbow, a shared look. It all just kind of accrued, like a snowball rolling down a hill, until it was obvious.”
Will: “How obvious?”
Will: “Let’s say the snowball became an avalanche.”
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Robin later witnesses Will trying to playfully shove Mike, hoping that Mike would give him a signal in return (which he doesn’t). After watching this and sympathizing with Will’s plight, Robin has a heart-to-heart with Will, encouraging him to be himself and revealing how she learned to accept her identity as a queer person:
Robin: “It was just from this silly movie that I made in fourth grade, but I got it up on the projector, and all of a sudden, I was looking at this little version of myself, and that little me, I could hardly recognize her. You know, she was so carefree and fearless. She just loved every part of herself, and that’s when it hit me. It was never about Tone-deaf Tammy. It was always just about me. I was looking for answers in somebody else, but…I had all the answers. I just needed to stop being so goddamn scared. Scared of who I really was. Once I did that, I felt so free.”
While some of the heartfelt moments shared between Robin and Will in Stranger Things 5 may seem like they’re building toward Will having a crush on Robin, it becomes clear through their conversations that Robin is more of a mentor for Will and is someone he looks up to and sees himself in, because he recognizes that Robin is also LGBTQ+ like himself.
Schnapp has since explicitly described Will and Robin’s dynamic in Stranger Things 5 Vol. 1, telling Deadline that Robin is “a role model” for Will, and is “someone who overcame what he wants to overcome:”
Noah Schnapp: “He sees someone who overcame what he wants to overcome. So he’s trying to learn more about that. He really sees a role model in Robin. So just trying to get any information he can out of her without explicitly saying why is kind of the goal for him.”
Are Both Will and Robin Gay?
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While not immediately apparent, Stranger Things has slowly established that both Robin and Will are gay in the series.
When Robin was introduced in Season 3 of the show, it seemed that she might be a new love interest for Steve, until a heartfelt confession later on confirms that Robin is interested in girls. After establishing a new love interest in Vickie for Robin in Season 4, the latest episodes prove that the two women are in a relationship, but that they are keeping it secret, which is why it’s not common knowledge among the Stranger Things friends that Robin is queer:
Robin: “She’s my friend. We’re friends. Good friends. But, the thing is, some people might not understand our friendship. Basically, what I’m trying to say is if you were there and did see something, it might just be better if nobody knew, if it stayed between us.”
Will, meanwhile, hasn’t had a love interest like his other friends, who are all coupled up at some point in the show (Mike and Eleven, Lucas and Max, Dustin and Suzie). After speculation began to grow that Will might be gay, it was confirmed in Season 4 that Schnapp’s character was in love with his best friend, which came after a heartfelt yet indirect confession that Mike did not pick up on.
Schnapp confirmed to Variety in 2022 after the Season 4 episode had aired that “it’s 100% clear that [Will] is gay and he does love Mike.”
The character’s struggles with acting on his feelings for Mike and accepting that he is queer have become a large portion of Will’s character arc in the past two seasons, and his interactions with Robin in Season 5 have helped Will come to terms with sexuality as he’s been able to find a kindred spirit who has been through the same experiences.
The Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 finale revealed that Robin’s speech about self-acceptance helped Will in his critical moment against Vecna, as he learned to overcome his fear and accept himself, which allowed Will to hone his new powers. Heading into Season 5 Vol. 2, with this new perspective, it will be interesting to see how Will and Robin’s friendship progresses, and whether Will can finally confess his feelings for Mike.
