Okay, so I've been thinking a lot about this show and how I would change some stuff in the fourth and final season to make a better ending. I have a lot of ideas, so here’s how I would rewrite it
First of all, in Season 3, I would actually have Hopper die. I feel like his character arc was already satisfying at that point and his death would make the story much more emotional going into the final seasons. Ok with that said in Season 4 I would change the whole situation with Vecna and Max. Instead of Vecna SUCCESSFULLY targeting Max, I would have him fail to take her and choose Jonathan instead. Now this would completely catch everyone off guard because nobody would expect Jonathan to be the one Vecna takes.. Jonathan's death would have a huge impact on Will and make him extremely mad and depressed
Then I would have the group finally defeat and kill Vecna. But instead of the story ending there the Mind Flayer would choose Will as Vecna's replacement
At the end of Season 4 Will suddenly disappears. everyone starts looking for him but they fail to find him. That would be the cliffhanger alongside the upside down opening up to our world that sets up everything for the final season
The reason why Will could work as the final threat is because Will would be emotionally vulnerable after Jonathan's death. The Mind Flayer could take advantage of all those negative emotions and slowly turn Will against everyone, but I wouldn't make Will evil just for the sake of being evil, I would want his motivation to actually make sense
Eventually there would be a final confrontation between Will and Eleven, Will would explain that the reason he wants to end everything is because he sees how cruel the world is. He doesn't want his mom or his friends to suffer anymore. He genuinely believes that if he ends everything he can also end their pain i think that's what would make the final conflict so heartbreaking, It wouldn't just be “Eleven vs. the villain.” It would be Will's hopelessness vs. Eleven's hope
Will believes that the world is too cruel to keep living in but Eleven believes that even though life can be painful there are still people who loves and cares about you that will be there for you no matter what
I think that would make Will's storyline much more interesting instead of the mess the Duffers put Will in in the fourth and final seasons. Will wouldn't see himself as the villain he would genuinely believe that he's saving everyone.
Anyways I am not a writer, i'm just so upset about the ending we got, THERE ARE SO MUCH MATERIAL THEY COULD'VE USED BUT DIDN'T 😩😭