Billionaire industrialist Elon Musk has criticised Will Byers’s coming-out scene in Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2, calling it “completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi”.

Musk was responding to a post by an X user, who had shared a clip from the scene. The post highlighted that the fans of the popular Netflix series were questioning the scene’s relevance to the storyline. “The culture is changing,” the X user wrote.

“It’s completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi,” Musk commented on the post.

Soon after Volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 premiered on Netflix in India on 26 December, the internet was flooded with fan reactions. While some viewers expressed disappointment with the latest instalment, others praised several moments, particularly Max’s waking-up scene. The scene in which Noah Schnapp’s Will reveals his sexual orientation has also sparked widespread discussion online.

In the scene, Will opens up to his closest circle — his mother Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), best friend Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), brother Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) and others. He reveals that Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) had been exploiting his deepest fear, manipulating him into believing he would be ostracised if he revealed his biggest secret. Determined to strip Vecna of this hold over him, Will confesses that while he is like his friends in every other way, he does not feel romantic attraction towards girls.

While several viewers have defended the scene as integral to Will’s character arc and the show’s storyline, others have described it as “superfluous” and “ill-timed”.

The final volume of the fifth season is set to premiere on Netflix on 1 January in India.

With just one episode left, the Hawkins gang, including Natalia Dyer, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Priah Ferguson and David Harbour, is ready to take on the humanoid monsters of the Upside Down one last time.