Netflix’s Stranger Things returns, here’s what you need to know about the Upside Down
Full of 1980s nostalgic pop-culture, the alternate world sci-fi horror series will air just before Halloween, and fans will be pleased to see the return of Eleven
The nostalgia-heavy, small-screen blockbuster Stranger Things returns to Netflix with a new season on October 27 – just in time for a pre-Halloween weekend binge session.
The footage was shown as part of a panel discussion with executive producers Shawn Levy, and Matt and Ross Duffer, as well as much of the cast.
The Duffers say they had always intended the show to be similar to “Spielberg directing a big, fat Stephen King book.”
The big takeaway is that Eleven is back. The mysterious girl with mysterious powers shows up at the end of the teaser, and it looks as if she’s found a way to get out of the “Upside Down”.
The iconic character is played by Millie Bobby Brown, who is up for a best supporting actress Emmy for the role. Eleven will be a full-fledged character in the second season, say the show’s creators. “Her role is substantial and really satisfying,” says executive producer Shawn Levy.
“The first two episodes – I immediately fell in love with Eleven and Eleven was me. The only thing that was hard was crying. I feel like I’m a happy person in real life so that when I’m crying I would need five minutes to get in the zone.”
This new season begins in 1984, and it appears that not all is well with Will. The last time we saw Noah Schnapp’s character, he was coughing up weird slug-like tentacles but pretending that everything was cool in front of his family.
“I don’t know,” Will says with giant tears welling up in his eyes. “I felt it everywhere.”
Schnapp told Entertainment Weekly that this new season is “a lot darker and scarier,” adding that it will explain how Will being in the Upside Down “affected him personally and mentally, and they’ll get more into everyone’s story lines.”
The cast has also grown with the addition of Sadie Sink as Max, a girl who just moved to town from California; her older brother, Billy, will be played by Dacre Montgomery. Billy “is that Stephen King model of not all evil is paranormal” and “a very scary real-world character,” Levy told USA Today.
Stranger Things, which premiered in July last year has picked up 18 nominations ahead of September’s ceremony in recognition of its eight-episode first season. Season 2 will have nine episodes.
Additional reporting by AFP