‘A Whiplash of a Reveal’

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1.

The dramatic ending of Volume 1 of Stranger Things’ final season was a shock to star Noah Schnapp.

The first four episodes dropped on Netflix on Wednesday, Nov. 26, and left fans with a huge surprise that took Schnapp, 21, time to process. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor explained that the crew and executive producer Shawn Levy, teased what was to come before he saw the final script.

“You’ve got good stuff coming up. Be excited,” Schnapp recalled being told, although he admitted that he didn’t make much of it. “Whatever that means,” he thought.

Before the table read, Schnapp, who joined the show in its debut season a decade ago at just 11 years old, finally looked through his storyline (he previously told PEOPLE this hilariously occurred while he was taking a shower).

“I was like, ‘I have to make sure I see all my parts and know what to say,’” Schnapp explained. “I don’t wanna sound stupid at the table read.”

When he reached the ending — where Will reveals he can telekinetically destroy demogorgons to save his friends — Schnapp said he called out to his assistant and declared, “I have powers!”

“It was a whiplash of a reveal for me,” Schnapp said.

Creator Matt Duffer explained Will really doesn’t have powers himself, instead he’s channeling Vecna’s. “He’s not a new Eleven, and that was important to us,” the co-creator told the outlet. “In fact, he doesn’t really have powers himself. He’s channeling Vecna’s powers. Because he’s, since season 1, been connected to him and, in part, connected to the Mind Flayer, that is allowing him to tap into and use these powers if he’s in close enough proximity.”

In the final fight scene of Volume 1, Vecna finally appears. He summons Will into the air to approach him face to face and asks, “Can you see them, William? Can you see the children?”

Vecna revealed he chose middle school-age children to steal into the Upside Down to “reshape the world” because they’re “weak in body and mind.”

They are “easily broken, easily reshaped, controlled, the perfect vessel,” Vecna tells Will. “And you, Will, you were the first. And you broke so easily. You showed me what was possible, what I could achieve. Some minds, it turns out, simply do not belong in this world. They belong in mine.”

He lets go of Will and walked back into his realm in the Upside Down.

Meanwhile, Will has visions of his friends about to be attacked by demogorgons. After his childhood flashes before his eyes, he stops the monsters mid-attack with his newfound powers. Then, he kills each creature with his mind. The episode ends with him wiping blood away from his nose.

The Duffer brothers, Matt and Ross, who created the iconic series, explained in a recent interview with Variety why Vecna left Will instead of killing him.

“You’ll see as it goes on, but he completely underestimates Will,” Matt said. “He perceives him in the way that so many others have in his life, which is as weak, as nothing, as incapable of achieving anything great. So he completely underestimates him in that moment.”

“Whether that’s going to happen again, you’ll have to watch Volume 2,” he continued.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

They also revealed how long it took to film the lengthy battle that took place at the end of the episode.

“Forever,” Matt shared. “It wasn’t originally written that way. We wanted it to feel very immersive, like you were in the middle of it. Ross and I hadn’t done anything like that before. The finale’s insane, but that sequence was logistically the most difficult thing we ever did.”

Ross added: “It was definitely the hardest thing we’ve ever done ever in terms of filmmaking.”

Stranger Things season 5 Volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix. Volume 2 drops on Dec. 25, and the finale airs on Dec. 31.