Does Stranger Things season 5 have a character become more powerful than eleven?

This article contains spoilers for “Stranger Things” season 5, episodes 1 to 3.

For four seasons, “Stranger Things” often had its problems resolved with a wave of the helping hand from Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). Whether it’s an interdimensional meat spider or Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna, El has been powerful enough to save the day with her incredible abilities, sometimes with only a nosebleed to prove it. Now, however, after the first volume of the latest season of “Stranger Things,” it’s clear that we might need more than one telekinetic “teenager” to win the day. But who could this new challenger be? What hero could arrive at the last minute with a Hail Mary to support El? Well, based on what we’ve seen so far, and taking into account one character’s history in the series so far, their ally with extra abilities might be hiding in plain sight.

From the beginning, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has had such a strong connection to El Upside Down. After all, her disappearance into that Crimson Dimension was the main focus of Season 1. Now, nearly a decade later, that first journey was revisited (albeit via questionable CGI) in the opening of the first episode of Season 5. It turns out that since 1983, Vecna ​​has had some sort of psychic connection with Will. This secret infiltration allowed the former Henry Creel to maintain certain ties with the Byers boy, and by extension, his friends. However, as these first three episodes have revealed, Vecna ​​isn’t the only one with an advantage over the opposition.

In Season 5, Episode 1, “The Crawl”, Will began having visions from the perspective of the Demogorgons. It felt like both a blessing and a curse for the poor guy, whose trauma from these events seemed endless. Nonetheless, this allows our heroes a chance to track their powerful enemy, who has returned for revenge. It also made Will a much more useful character than he was in the past.

But what if it didn’t stop there? Even if he can only see through Demogorgons for now, could this be an even bigger improvement for Will? Getting inside the head of a Demogorgon is one thing, but what if, to turn the tide against the Upside Down, Will could control them too?

This may seem like a far-fetched theory, but the evidence so far suggests it’s entirely plausible. It is well established that Demogorgons and Demodogs can be controlled. Not only did Vecna ​​have them under her command, but we also saw the Mind Flayer control them as early as season 2. It’s also worth noting that for a brief period, Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) almost domesticated his own Demodog with D’Artagnan, who was able to resist the Mind Flayer’s control. Putting it all together, Will potentially taking on a creature from the Upside Down could be a power move that even El couldn’t match. We just hope that if this happens, it doesn’t lead to comparisons to a recent sci-fi hit using the same plot device.

FX’s “Alien: Earth” dared to give one of its characters the ability to communicate and control the scariest space creatures in cinematic history. It’s a bold move that, in addition to evoking memories of “Alien: Resurrection,” worked quite well in the spinoff series. What’s worrying is that it may have pre-empted “Stranger Things” by going down a similar path.

If the events surrounding Will go as planned, they could be overshadowed by what Wendy (Sydney Chandler) has already achieved in “Alien: Earth.” Seeing Will dispatch a Demogorgon or Demodog into action might seem exciting, but it’ll be hard not to compare it to the recent sight of a Xenomorph being ordered to tear people apart last September. That’s not to say this isn’t still the kind of groundbreaking story “Stranger Things” could use in its final moments. Maybe all it needs is a little extra tragedy to stand out.

It is certain that some characters from “Stranger Things” will not survive the final season. Unfortunately, poor Will Byers feels like he’s about to be one of them. While it may be sad to see him go, perhaps him finally sticking it to Vecna ​​by turning his own subordinates against him could be a redemptive exit. This could finally do justice to a character who, until now, is only remembered for a bad haircut. We will simply have to wait for volume 2, which is scheduled for release on December 25, followed by the series finale on December 31, to find out.