Whenever a pop culture phenomenon approaches its endgame, fans undoubtedly have a wide range of opinions. As the old saying goes, it’s impossible to please everyone, and Stranger Things is no different. The fifth and final season of Netflix’s hit show finally premiered over the holiday season, and while its Rotten Tomatoes score remains strong (84%), viewers have offered their fair share of critiques — including pointing out plot holes and logical inconsistencies. In the minds of some viewers, maybe some of those plot holes would have been filled if certain footage wasn’t left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately, co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer are here to clear things up.
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In an interview with Variety, the Duffer brothers addressed a viral fan petition calling for the release of deleted scenes from Vol. 2. Sadly, for the nearly 400,000 people who have signed it (as of this writing), so such sequences exist. “Someone sent it to us, yeah,” Matt said, referencing a list of deleted scenes that included Eleven and Mike venturing to Camazotz to save Will. “Obviously, that’s not a real thing.” Ross added that he doesn’t think there’s a “single cut scene” from all of Season 5.
Matt continued, “The show has just grown so massive. Online, there’s just so much misinformation. Just tons of it. We would be here for hours trying to bat down the stuff that was not true. But at the end of the day, hopefully the work speaks for itself, and it is the show that Ross and I wanted to make. Netflix was, and has always been, incredible. I mean, there’s no interference or direction at all from them on us. They really trust us, and that’s been true from Season 1 on. It’s never changed, even though the show and the size of the audience have grown.”
The Duffer Brothers Have Addressed Stranger Things Misinformation Before
Just like any other massively popular property, Stranger Things Season 5 was subject to a bevy of rumors leading up to its release. One bit of speculation that gained a considerable amount of traction concerned episode run times. Stranger Things is no stranger to protracted run times (the series finale is a feature-length event that wraps everything up), but there was a point in time when people thought we were headed for eight feature-length episodes. Early reports indicated each episode was between 90-120 minutes in length, but the Duffers quickly cleared that matter up by sharing the actual run times for Vol. 1.
The brothers didn’t share the Vol. 2 run times at that time (and Vol. 2 is the topic of the petition), but it shows they’re willing to be transparent and address certain rumors for the benefit of fans. The Duffers don’t have time to acknowledge every theory that pops up, but similar to James Gunn, they’ll open up when the situation really calls for it. This petition, which has been gaining support over the past handful of days, is something that needed to be addressed. Even those who feel criticisms of Stranger Things Season 5 are overblown might be interested in deleted scenes, hoping such sequences could flesh things out and answer any lingering questions.
It’s true that creatives have a history of playing coy when addressing rumors, but that typically happens in the buildup to a project’s release in an effort to preserve spoilers. Now that Stranger Things Season 5 is out in the open, there isn’t anything left to hide. If there were deleted scenes, the Duffers could have easily confirmed their existence and maybe even teased their eventual release. That they’re going out of their way to point out there aren’t any deleted scenes at all is a sign that it’s safe to take their comments at face value. Fans are understandably upset that Stranger Things is over and would love to see more of the Hawkins heroes, but we’ve seen all the footage the Duffers have.
It isn’t surprising to hear that the Duffers had maximum creative freedom when crafting Stranger Things Season 5. From the beginning, the series has been one of Netflix’s biggest hits, so the Duffers earned that level of trust from the executives. They were able to end the series on their terms and tell the story they wanted to tell. Not everyone is pleased with the end result, but that’s the nature of pop culture fandom. As the Duffers begin a new era of their careers under their agreement with Paramount, hopefully they will have the same kind of leeway making feature films.
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