Noah Schnapp in Season 5 of Stranger ThingsImage via Netflix
By
Amanda M. Castro
Published 59 minutes ago
Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a journalist based in New York. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is a bilingual Latina who graduated from the University of New Haven with a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies. She covers the world of network television, focusing on sharp, thoughtful analysis of the shows and characters that keep audiences tuning in week after week. At Collider, Amanda dives into the evolving landscape of network TV — from long-running procedural favorites to ambitious new dramas — exploring why these stories matter and how they connect with viewers on a cultural level.
Sign in to your Collider account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapEditor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things 5, Vol. 1If there’s one fandom crossover no one had on their 2025 bingo card, it’s Stranger Things and Harry Potter, yet Season 5 practically invites it. Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) long-running psychic connection to Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) becomes central to the new episodes, and fans immediately began linking it to one of the most defining elements of J.K. Rowling’s series: The Horcruxes. And honestly? The comparison tracks.
For years, Will has felt the presence of something dark left inside him after surviving the Upside Down. Season 5 pushes that idea further than ever, finally giving him a storyline that doesn’t just revisit his trauma but transforms it into a force that could make or break Vecna’s defeat. It’s precisely the kind of setup that has viewers pointing directly to the Harry-Voldemort dynamic — and especially the fact that Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) himself unknowingly housed a piece of Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) soul.
Why Fans See Will as a Vecna 'Horcrux'
Vecna has the upper hand on Will in Stranger Things 5Image via Netflix
To understand the comparison, it helps to know what a Horcrux actually is. In Harry Potter, a Horcrux is an object (or sometimes a person) that holds a fragment of a dark wizard’s soul. Its entire purpose is to tether that wizard to life, even if their physical body is destroyed. Voldemort famously used several Horcruxes, one of which was accidentally created inside Harry himself.
Replace “dark wizard” with “humanoid monster with psychic abilities,” and you can see why Will’s storyline is ringing familiar. Since Vecna took him as a child, Will has carried a piece of the Upside Down with him — a connection that Season 5 finally confirms isn’t symbolic but literal.
The new episodes show Will experiencing Vecna’s presence the way Harry saw into Voldemort’s mind: visions, sensations, and a shared awareness he never asked for. In Season 5 Episode 4, that connection escalates dramatically when Will taps into Vecna’s power to stop a group of Demogorgons, snapping their bodies the same way Vecna dispatched his victims in Season 4. It’s the most obvious proof yet that Will is channeling Vecna.
Even Schnapp sees it. In a recent interview, he admitted the dynamic felt so close to Harry and Voldemort that he rewatched the films to understand how to play it. When the actor is drawing the parallel himself, fans aren’t exactly reaching.
The Vecna Connection Goes Way Beyond a Simple Psychic Link
Close-up of Vecna in the Upside Down in Season 4 of Stranger Things.Image via Netflix
This season marks the first time the Duffer Brothers wholly lean into Will’s connection as a central story engine. They’ve hinted for years that something about the child Vecna targeted back in Season 1 mattered more than anyone realized. Now, Season 5 treats that moment as the origin point of a long game.
The creators revealed they always intended Will to be key to ending Vecna, and what we've seen of Season 5 shows why. He’s not just sensing creatures anymore — he’s influencing them and controlling them. That kind of power doesn’t come from a casual brush with the Upside Down; it suggests that Vecna left something behind, even if not intentionally.
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Posts By Hannah Hunt 3 days agoWhile Stranger Things avoids direct magic terminology, the mechanics feel eerily similar to what a Horcrux represents: A villain accidentally embedding part of themselves into someone else, creating a permanent tether. In Harry Potter, Voldemort didn’t mean to turn Harry into a Horcrux — it happened because his soul was already so unstable. Vecna, operating on pure psychic domination, might have done the same through sheer force of will.
Why the Horcrux Parallel Fits the Themes of Season 5
Voldemort holds Harry by the face and stares at him in the Harry Potter film series.Image via Warner Bros.
The comparison actually complements Will’s emotional trajectory. Season 5 reframes Will as someone who has spent years defining himself through fear, guilt, and the sense that he’s never entirely escaped what happened to him. That kind of lingering darkness mirrors Harry’s connection to Voldemort, but Stranger Things pushes into a more horror-leaning version of the trope.
Will’s abilities in Season 5 aren’t bright, heroic magic. They’re intrusive, painful, and tied to memories he’d rather forget. His “power” is rooted in trauma—a very Stranger Things twist on the chosen-one archetype. Where Harry’s arc leaned on destiny, Will’s feels like a burden he has to confront and finally take ownership of.
It’s also significant that the Duffers explicitly wanted Will to grow into the most complete version of himself this season. His arc blends acceptance, identity, and agency in a way that makes this power surge feel more like evolution than possession. He’s not becoming Vecna — he’s reclaiming a piece of himself that Vecna tried to exploit.
And yet, the darker interpretation lingers: If Will is essentially carrying a part of Vecna within him, what does that mean for the second half of the season? In Harry Potter, the Horcrux inside Harry meant that he ultimately had to die before Voldemort could be defeated. Fans are already asking if Stranger Things will echo that twist or subvert it.
Will Byers becoming Season 5’s narrative centerpiece has been a long time coming, and the Horcrux comparison only highlights how deeply his story now ties into Vecna’s fate. Whether Stranger Things follows the Wizarding World blueprint or takes it somewhere darker, the connection injects real stakes into Will’s role — and cements him as the linchpin of the show’s final battle.
Stranger Things
TV-14
Drama
Mystery
Horror
Science Fiction
Release Date
2016 - 2025-00-00
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction
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