Stranger Things creators on Season 2’s new terror, the value of growth spurts and the endgame
Netflix’s Stranger Things was a big word of mouth hit last year, and Season 2 looks to be just as successful. We talk to the creators of the sci-fi horror series about viewers’ expectations, and how their cast members are growing fast
Stranger Things 2 is almost here.
Season 2 of the retro sci-fi juggernaut arrives on Friday, more than a year after the show became a word of mouth success that spawned countless internet memes (Hey, Barb!) and made overnight stars of its precocious preteen actors.
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The action picks up in small-town Hawkins, Indiana, in 1984, a year after Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), a girl with telekinetic powers, sacrificed herself to save missing middle-schooler Will (Noah Schnapp) from a mysterious parallel universe known as the Upside Down. Still shaken by the experience, Will and his nerdy group of pals face new monsters and a looming, even larger threat, all while trying to talk to girls and make it home in time for dinner.
We talk to the show’s creators, twins Matt and Ross Duffer, 33
How do you feel this week compared to July last year, when Season 1 premiered?
Ross: It’s a very different feeling. The terror of the first season came out of, “Is it just going to vanish from the site and not find its audience?” Now, we have a completely different terror: people have expectations. It’s this fine line of [wanting] to please the fans but you want it to feel different. At the same time, you want to play into what works. Even as we’re starting to work on Season 3, it’s such a tough balance to strike.
In the new season, Will suffers PTSD from the Upside Down. Did you set out to tell a darker story, or was that just inevitable given everything he’s gone through?