Stranger Things Creators Plan to Focus on Original Characters in Season 5, Avoid Introducing New Characters


Stranger Things' creators are planning to focus on original characters in Season 5. They aim to avoid introducing new characters in the upcoming episodes. IndieWire talked to Matt and Ross Duffer about their approach to Season 5. Everyone who enjoys the show fell in love with Eddie Munson this past year. But, that groundswell support doesn't occur with every character that makes it into Stranger Things. In fact, some people lament that they don't get to spend more time with the core kids over the course of these seasons. The Duffers hear those concerns and are going back to the adventures of the Hawkins group for Season 5. It's an interesting balancing act because there are the occasional Barbs and Eddies who capture the popular consciousness. Check out what they had to say down below. 

"Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they're going to be an integral part of the narrative," Ross began. "So that's something with Eddie this season, where we go, 'Well, we need a character here for this storyline to really work, and to give it the engine that is needed.' But every time we do that, we're nervous, because you go, 'We've got a great cast of characters here, and actors, and any moment we're spending with a new character, we're taking time away from one of the other actors.' So we're just very, very careful about who we're introducing. And then specifically in the casting process, it took a very long time to find Joe Quinn, and you just go through so many edits, because you know that we can't add someone that's going to just take away from our characters if they're not terrific."

"And the same was true with Sadie and Maya. And it's not like the actors don't know [either]. They all know that they're coming into a cast people love, and you're introducing a new element," Matt added. "And you've seen it on shows go wrong, and so they're all nervous, but like Ross said, with those particular three, and Dacre [Mongomery] as well, who played Billy, it was like, because these actors are amazing it's just really fun. I just like shaking it up, so we shake it up by changing the plot or adding in a new monster. We're doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5. We're trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess."

When it comes to the question of when the next season will premiere on Netflix, the creators are figuring out what timeframe will suit their production flow. They tried to explain it to Collider.

"It depends who you ask," Matt mused. "That's what we're still figuring out. If you ask our AD, and our line producer, they want more time for production. Our post-production supervisor wants more time for post-production. So it's going to be a big discussion. How long does everybody get? Here's the thing, the more you shorten production, the more you shorten post-production, the more things get compromised."

Which one of the kids do you want to see get more focus in the next season? Let us know down in the comments!

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