lucas had so much potential as a character, growing up as a black kid in a predominantly white 80s town, dealing with racism and bullying, and you can see in s4 how that turned into him wanting to be popular so he wouldn't be an easy target anymore, and they never explored that
First look at Nikki and Will’s argument in ‘STRANGER THINGS: TALES FROM ‘85’
She says Will is “not strong enough” to be a part of Eleven and Mike’s “un-flaying” plan, and kicks him out