Stranger Things 5 Goes Full Harry Potter: Is Will the Mind Flayer's Horcrux?

Spoiler alert for Stranger Things Season 5. The new episodes take a hard left into territory that feels suspiciously Hogwarts-adjacent. And yeah, the parallels are not subtle.

So... did Stranger Things just pull a Horcrux?

Season 5 centers Will Byers again, and the show leans into his long, messy link to Vecna in a way that will ring a big bell for Harry Potter fans. In Rowling-world, a Horcrux is a thing (or, awkwardly, a person) carrying a slice of a dark wizard’s soul, which keeps said wizard hanging around even if their body gets wrecked. The show is basically riffing on that idea.

Here, Will has been carrying a piece of the Upside Down since Season 1. The new episodes push it further: he feels the Mind Flayer’s emotions, sees through Demogorgons, and, yes, can steer them. In Episode 4 he taps into that connection and slaughters Demogorgons with the same vicious flair we’ve seen from Vecna. The takeaway isn’t especially coy: Will isn’t just tethered to Vecna — he might be hosting a literal fragment of him.

Noah Schnapp says the comparison is intentional

It’s not just fans connecting the dots. Noah Schnapp told Deadline the Will-Vecna bond reminded him so much of Harry and Voldemort that he rewatched the Potter films to nail the performance. He also said Will’s Season 5 abilities are more emotional and psychic — basically powered by trauma rather than destiny — which, again, lines up with that unwanted mind-link vibe.

"For Will, we start to learn the parallels between Will and Vecna, and it almost felt very Harry Potter to me that I had to go back and re-watch the movies... the Harry Potter-Voldemort relationship felt very close to Will and Vecna."

Schnapp teased that Volume 2 leans even harder into all of this, with the connection driving Will’s choices and shaping the endgame. Translation: the show knows exactly what it’s doing with the parallels, and it’s not backing off.

Are we headed toward a Harry-in-the-Forest moment?

That’s the big, uncomfortable question. In Harry Potter, the kid has to die before the Battle of Hogwarts because he’s unknowingly carrying a piece of Voldemort. If you follow that logic, the Will-Vecna link could demand a sacrifice.

But Season 5 frames Will’s power as something painful and unwanted — a byproduct of years of fear and survival — not some shiny chosen-one gift. Every time he uses the connection, it drags him back into the worst parts of his past. The Duffers have said the finale is about Will becoming his strongest, fullest self, which suggests the show might subvert the Harry route. Instead of Will dying to end Vecna, he could flip the connection and weaponize the thing that hurt him.

And the show is already nudging us there: Will can control Demogorgons now, and it feels like we’re only at the warm-up stage. If he keeps pushing, that leverage could extend to Vecna himself. Still, the threat of sacrifice hangs over all of it — which is exactly why Will feels like the true heart of this final season.

Quick facts, while we’re here

• Stranger Things is created by Matt and Ross Duffer; main cast includes Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin.
• There are 5 seasons so far; Rotten Tomatoes sits at 90% critics and 89% audience; IMDb is 8.6.
• Noah Schnapp’s interview confirming the Potter parallels was with Deadline; he says Volume 2 doubles down on the Will-Vecna bond.
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling spans 7 books and 8 core films (not counting the 3 Fantastic Beasts movies).
• Warner Bros. Pictures produced the films; key players include Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, and Ralph Fiennes.
• Combined box office for all 11 Wizarding World films: about $9.5 billion.

Do you think Will Byers makes it out of Season 5 alive, or does the show go full Horcrux logic in the end?

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.