De-Aged Will Byers Kicks Off Stranger Things Season 5 in a Full-Circle Return

Stranger Things is closing out with season 5 and, fittingly, it starts by rewinding to where all this madness began. The final season opens with a flashback built around a de-aged Will Byers, and Noah Schnapp just explained how they pulled it off — and how he feels about finally saying goodbye.

Rolling back the clock on Will

Schnapp told SFX that the premiere kicks off with a younger Will, and the tech behind it is a little wild. Production brought in a younger stand-in to play Will in the scene, and Schnapp basically coached the kid for a few days on set — matching his posture, the way he runs, even his breathing. He called it a full-circle moment, now being the one giving notes instead of the kid being told where to stand. He also said it felt like a mini taste of directing.

After that, they put Schnapp in a tented setup and had him run through a library of expressions and movement — fear, running, the works — so the VFX folks had everything they needed to build a younger Will. Then those artists went to town for months.

"Noah, I have been working with 11-year-old you for the past six months, watching every video of you."

That’s what Schnapp says one of the VFX artists told him. The team essentially mapped a de-aged version of his face and performance onto the stand-in, and the result is the show’s opening flashback. He calls it a cool little scene — and yeah, also kind of weird.

So... is Will the key again?

The first full trailer already had fans convinced Will is crucial to this last chapter. Starting the season with a Will-centric flashback only reinforces that. We’ll see how far the show leans into it, but the signs are pointing right at him.

Noah Schnapp is ready to turn the page

After spending most of his teens in the Upside Down, Schnapp sounds genuinely grateful and also ready to move on. He says Will Byers is his baby and he loves him, but he’s excited to try something new. In his words, he and Will have shaped each other, and he’s thankful he got to play the character this long — he’s just ready for the next role.

When the final season drops

• Volume 1: November 26 on Netflix
• Volume 2: December 25
• Finale: December 31

Circle the dates, because Hawkins is about to take its last stand — and it all starts by looking back at the kid who disappeared in the very first episode.