The Duffer brothers’ Stranger Things on Netflix could have been one of the 1980s’ best TV shows if these fan-casts had happened. Stranger Things, one of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows ever, and one of Netflix’s flagship shows, is now heading into its fifth and final season, which premieres on November 26, 2025. The mystery horror series premiered in July 2016, following the residents of Hawkins, Indiana – comprising a cast of both adults and children – who become embroiled in dark mysteries when a doorway to a haunting alternate dimension containing vicious creatures and a vengeful god is opened.
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Stranger Things skyrocketed many of its young actors to incredible fame, while it revitalized the careers of many of its older stars. What would the series have been like if it had been developed during the 1980s, though? @nightmarenostalgia on Instagram has suggested a number of fan-casts that places notable stars of the 1980s in some of Stranger Things’ most crucial and central roles, and their suggestions are inspired. Stranger Things’ 1980s setting has created a sense of nostalgia but also timelessness about the series, and this could have also informed the casting.
Who Is Included in These 1980s Stranger Things Fan-Casts (& Why Would They Have Been Perfect)?
The most notable and genius fan-cast suggested in this list is that of Winona Ryder in the role of Eleven. In 1980, Ryder turned nine-years-old, so she would have been the perfect age to portray the psychic Eleven in Stranger Things had it been developed during this decade, years before Millie Bobby Brown played the character. She could have teamed up with the late Corey Haim’s (Murphy’s Romance) Mike Wheeler, Sean Astin’s (The Goonies) Dustin, the late Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s (The Resident) Lucas, and Wil Wheaton’s (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Will Byers to investigate the strange happenings in Hawkins.
The Byers family could have been fleshed out with Sigourney Weaver (Alien) as Joyce and the late River Phoenix (Running on Empty) as Jonathan. This would have partnered Weaver with Tom Selleck’s (Magnum PI) Jim Hopper, chief of Hawkins’ Police Department, while Phoenix would have shared the screen with Michael J. Fox’s (Back to the Future) Steve Harrington and Heather Langenkamp’s (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Nancy Wheeler. Heather Graham’s (License to Drive) Max Mayfield could have joined later, alone with her brother, Rob Lowe’s (Parks and Recreation) Billy, and Uma Thurman’s (Pulp Fiction) Robin. An excitingly inclusion is Robert Downey Jr. as Eddie Munson from Stranger Things season 4, bringing the Marvel veteran into the mystery series in a stand-out role.
All these stars would have been at ages appropriate to their Stranger Things characters during the mid-1980s, when the series is set. Winona Ryder and Sean Astin, of course, appear in the actual Netflix series as Joyce Byers and Bob Newby, while Uma Thurman’s daughter, Maya Hawke, portrays Robin. Their connections to the series could have started sooner according to these fan-casts, while the other suggestions were some of the 1980s’ most celebrated stars, some with major connections to the horror and mystery genres. This would have made for an incredible series – though the one we have has excelled nevertheless.
Who are your favorite Stranger Things fan-casts? Let us know in the comments!
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