Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton responds to complaints against his character Jonathan Byers’ storyline

Charlie Heaton, who plays Jonathan Byers on Netflix’s hit sci-fi series Stranger Things, which recently dropped the first part of season four, addressed his character’s season 4 storyline complaints.

Earlier, many viewers expressed their frustrations online about Jonathan not having as much involvement on the show since the second season. Fans reportedly found that Jonathan's story pushed down the narrative totem pole, and his character substantially changed from his previous portrayals. As noted by Screen Rant tabloid, in the recently dropped season of Stranger Things, set six months after the events of season 3, Jonathan finds himself separated by over 2,000 miles from his love interest, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). Although there is a significant distance between them, the two struggle to stay close emotionally.

In a recent interview with British GQ, Heaton addressed complaints regarding his character's storyline in Stranger Things season 4. When asked whether he feels his character has been pushed to the sidelines, he replied, “I know why you’re asking that. And I’ve definitely seen some forums like Screen Rant or something — ‘What happened to the character?’ It is an ensemble cast; obviously every season they’ve brought in new characters, wonderful characters, and they’ve taken the story to different places.”

Heaton explains that Stranger Things is an ensemble show that adds new characters every season. It must balance the introductions of those characters while advancing the overarching plot and developing the established characters through their arcs. He also teased that the season will test Jonathan’s relationship with Nancy Wheeler. "We find him in a place of questioning himself and his relationship,” Heaton said of his character in recent episodes. “You want the people to be invested in them. Sometimes it blurs into one. Me and Natalia have been together for a long time, so you’ve even got to separate it yourself sometimes."

Stranger Things 4 Volume I is currently streaming on Netflix.

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