[9][11][12][13] Cast in the role when Will was 17, Massey played Will's transition to adulthood and is noted for his portrayal of Will coming out as gay and beginning a same-sex relationship with Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith).

The character was graphically murdered in the episode of October 9, 2015, with Will being shown strangled to death, lying dead in the morgue,[19] and being buried and grieved by his family.

[20] Viewers reacted with "major" backlash,[21][22][23] the decision was highly criticized by professionals,[24][25][26] and there was a feeling Days of Our Lives was pandering to anti-gay sentiment in its audience base.

[10][38] In 2002, Days decided they wanted a trained young actor playing Will, and nine-year-old Darian Weiss was cast,[10][39] and the character was rapidly-aged[38] three years.

"[56] Smith said the on-screen switch between Massey and Wilson would happen as quick as the news of the recast, saying, "If you blink and open your eyes, you'll be like, 'Wait, there's a new Will?!'

[73] In an early interview, Massey said Will is "a great guy .... he kind of had an interesting upbringing, but he turned out to be a really good kid, very forgiving."

[83] With his best female-friend, Gabi Hernandez (Camila Banus), Will is the father of Arianna Horton[9] (initially played by twins Harper and Sydnee Udell,[84] and most recently by Sydney Brower).

Co-Executive Producer Greg Meng said "we are excited to have the encouragement and support from both NBC and Sony to tell the inspiring story of a young man learning who he is as he defines and creates his relationships with others.

"[116] Massey told Entertainment Weekly that he was "thrilled" to play Will in an "empowering way that will show his struggle to accept who he is", and hoped the storyline would "inspire others to be true to themselves as well".

"[123][76] In Massey's words, the storyline shows Will's journey from "a young, wet-behind-the-ears kid who felt he was different in some way" to a happily out gay man, who has found "an amazing guy to be with".

"[30] Carlivati talked about his motivation to bring back Massey in an interview with Soap Opera Digest, saying "it seemed like the death of Will Horton was not a popular decision and was viewed as a mistake.

Will's mom marries the former FBI agent and policeman Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering), and Will loves living with them and his three young siblings as a family.

Will catches Sami cheating on Rafe with EJ, and in an angry and upset mood, he goes to a party with Sonny, gets drunk and kisses a young man named Neil (Jesse Kristofferson).

Sonny is furious when he finds out about Will's machinations, and leaves town again, ostensibly to take care of Kiriakis family business.

Ben Weston (Robert Scott Wilson) asks Will to be his best man in his upcoming wedding to Will's cousin, Abigail Deveraux (Kate Mansi).

While there, Will reminisces about his own wedding, and calls Sonny (who is in Paris, and a different time zone) and leaves him an emotional voice message, admitting his fault in their breakup, and expressing his unconditional love.

When Will had entered Ben's apartment, he was being followed by Susan Banks (Eileen Davidson), who was planning to abduct Will in an act of revenge against Sami, whom she blamed for her son EJ's death.

It turns out that Will's family unwittingly buried an empty coffin at his funeral, and Will, who had lost all his memories, was taken by Susan, who took care of him, but made him believe that he was her son EJ.

In the fall of 2017, Sonny and Paul are to marry, and Ben escapes from Bayview Sanatarium, and crashes their double wedding with Chad and Abigail to announce that Will is alive.

Soap journalist Michael Fairman[15] called it "one of the best daytime television coming out kisses", and said the best part was "Sonny sees the whole thing!

Fairman called Will's coming out story "excellent",[124] "powerful",[141] "emotionally impactful",[142] "relatable",[141] and "believable",[142] and credited Days of Our Lives for keeping it "edgy, dark, and very raw".

I received a letter from a mom in the Midwest, and she said that she had always known that her son was gay but they never talked about it, or they never even acknowledged it, and she said that seeing Will Horton come out of the closet gave them a roadmap to have that conversation for the very first time.

He compared them favorably with 1992 series Melrose Place, whose gay character Matt Fielding "never got so much as on onscreen kiss", whereas Will and Sonny "are regularly shown in flagrante delicto and basking shirtless in post-coitus afterglow."

[151] Michael Fairman declared it the "best wedding" of 2014, and praised it for being "beautifully acted", with "inspired writing" and "touching speeches", saying "every time we watch this we need hankies".

[21] Soap Opera Digest complained that Will "inexplicably succumbed" to Paul's advances and that it added "insult to injury" when it was subsequently revealed that Will had a previous episode of infidelity when off the show.

They remarked: "when Will and Sonny tied the knot, it was a groundbreaking moment based in love, which is why it is impossible to comprehend why the show spent the better half of the last two years trying so hard to unravel this historic union".

They said "Will holds a special place in the hearts of Days viewers", because they watched him "grow up on-screen after his birth in 1995", and "his sensitive coming out tale in 2012" added to his "cherished status".

"[21] Tony S., a columnist at soapcentral.com, said the family photograph of Will, Sonny and Arianna blowing off Will's grave "came across as a promise from someone in charge to homophobic fans ... as, 'Congrats, you won't have to worry about their kind anymore.

"[27] Lott's Afterbuzz TV colleague Tony Moore[167] called Will's death "gruesome" and "hard to watch", and bemoaned "the whole gay storyline is just going to be done away with."

[186] Massey went on to win the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series – never before won for a gay character[37] – three years in a row, in 2012,[6] 2013,[5] and 2014.