The Duffer Brothers on Wednesday talked about the evolution of Stranger Thingsin season 4 and how it went from a TV version of The Goonies in previous years to the small screen horror show inspired by Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellraiser.
“The kids are now not kids anymore. They are in high school,” explained Ross Duffer during Netflix’s Geeked Week. “Suddenly that opened up a lot of doors for us. We can put them in danger that is really scary.”
But sometimes the scariest thing in Hawkins isn’t the supernatural monsters; it’s the jocks and cheerleaders who terrorize kids like poor Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). “A lot of horror comes from humans in the story, the darkness in all of us,” added Ross Duffer. “This season really is no different.”
Sadly, no one shared any scoop about Volume 2 that drops July 1. Instead, the younger cast members waxed on about playing high schoolers and the rites of passage that go with it.
“It’s definitely a goal for Dustin to feel a little more confident,” said Gaten Matarazzo. “He’s put more emphasis on his look. I think it’s just a general confidence search, maybe motivated by his friendship with Steve [Joe Keery].”
“I understand where Lucas is and his life at the time,” added Cale McLaughlin. “He’s kind of going through this time, who am I, where do fit in. He needed to venture out to figure out who he was before he can appreciate his love for his friends, the nerd that he is.”
Other highlights from the show’s pre-taped Geeked Week panel hosted by Felicia Day:
- David Harbour (Hopper) says his prison scenes were shot in an actual pokey in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the snow made for some frigid moments — especially when his character had to run outside.
- The Duffers talked briefly about wanting to kill off Steve earlier in the show’s run. Fortunately for fans of Joe Keery, that quickly changed. “It’s not like we are making it up as we go along,” said Matt Duffer. “The characters inform what we are doing.”
- Sadie Sink briefly touched on Max’s thrilling scene where she runs from Vecna’s clutches and back to her friends. “That was shot over four days. There was a lot of time spent in a harness,” she said. “It was pretty intense. We got lucky. There were practical effects. It made it easier instead of staring at a man in a green suit.”
- Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson) paid the Duffers the ultimate compliment by describing Stranger Things as if “Spielberg and John Carpenter directed Scooby Doo. That’s a show.”