Steve Harrington – The Most Hated Stranger Things Character, To A Fan Favourite
Written by Ellie Terrell on 27th November 2025
The most loveable Stranger Things character, Steve Harrington, portrayed by Joe Keery, is arguably the talk of the internet right now.
As volume 5 drops today on Netflix, fans across the world have been asking showrunners the Duffer Brothers one thing only – to not kill their favourite character, Steve Harrington.
Joe Keery originally auditioned to play the role of Jonathan Byers prior to landing the role of Steve.
The Duffer Brothers originally intended to make Keery’s character even more antagonistic, with his death to take place in the first season.
Upon casting Keery, the Duffer Brothers “fell in love” with his portrayal and decided to keep Steve alive and give him a small redemption arc for the season.
Executive producer Shawn Levy said that Steve’s evolving role in the second season was initially unplanned, with the Duffer Brothers deciding in the middle of writing the season to pair Keery’s character with Dustin Henderson due to both characters being “alone” and experiencing heartbreak.
Steve’s character development has been praised as a breakout point for the series, with many considering him the emotional anchor of Stranger Things.
Steve’s role in the series has evolved, and he has become a beloved character, often being compared to other popular characters from television and film.
The only reason fans believe the Duffer Brothers might not kill Keery’s character is because the death of Steve could arguably ruin the ending of the show which could make fans not want to rewatch the series in the future, due to the heartbreak they would feel.
Without giving any spoilers of Volume 1, because people may not be able to watch it yet [due to it being released the early hours of this morning], it is likely that Keery’s character will be in a lot of danger.
Fans theorise that Steve will sacrifice himself for Nancy Wheeler, who was his girlfriend in season 1.
In season 4, Steve confessed his true feelings to Nancy and told her he sees a future with her.
This confession led to fans theorising that in the season 5 finale, Steve will die in Nancy’s arms.
However, some fans argue that Steve dying in Dustin’s arms will be a lot more emotional, due to Steve being like a “father figure” to Dustin, which may have given producers a motive to make this happen instead.
It is likely that Steve’s fate and future in the series will not be explored until the volume 3 drop, which is released in the New Year.
For the Steve Harrington fans, their “ideal ending” would be that Steve and Nancy get their happy ending and have six kids together, which has always been Steve’s dream.
However, fans believe the reality will be that either Dustin or Steve will die, and if Dustin dies, Joe Keery’s character will be left heartbroken.
