Stranger Things Season 5's Characters Break A Duffer Brot...

Stranger Things Season 5's Characters Break A Duffer Brothers Promise Will looks surprised in Stranger Things season 5

By Cathal Gunning Published 26 minutes ago Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1.

While Stranger Things season 5, volume 1 might be a triumph, the show’s final outing has still broken a big promise that its creators made a few years earlier. Over three years after its predecessor arrived to critical acclaim, Stranger Things season 5, volume 1 is finally here. The hype for the show’s final season was almost unprecedented.

Despite this, Stranger Things season 5, volume 1, seems to have largely satisfied the expectations of fans. It wasn’t clear where the show’s story was heading after Stranger Things season 4’s ending, but season 5’s first four episodes did a solid job of reacquainting viewers with the heroes of the series while also introducing a few new characters.

Stranger Things Season 5 Wasn't Supposed To Introduce New Characters

Linda Hamilton aiming a gun in Stranger Things season 5

Of course, this isn’t an entirely uncontroversial decision. Stranger Things has an infamously huge cast, and the show has occasionally struggled to keep up with all of its main characters. The divisive Stranger Things season 3 featured separate storylines for Mike, Will, Billy, Max, Lucas, and El, Hopper and Joyce, Nancy and Jonathan, and Steve, Robin, Erica, and Dustin.

Season 4 was no less disorganized and messy, prompting the show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, to tell IndieWire that they were trying to steer clear of adding new characters in season 5. Per Matt Duffer, “We’re doing our best to resist for Season 5. We’re trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess.”

Meanwhile, Ross Duffer stated that, ”Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they’re going to be an integral part of the narrative… So we’re just very, very careful about who we’re introducing.” This seems like a pretty clear mission statement from the brothers, but it is one that Stranger Things season 5, volume 1 effectively ignores.

Outside a handful of military grunts whom Hopper and El evade throughout the first four episodes, the main new characters are Derek Turnbow, his family, and Linda Hamilton’s villainous Dr. Kay. Holly Wheeler is also recast and given a far bigger role in the story, but this is more easily forgiven since her siblings have been major characters throughout the saga.

Stranger Things' Final Episodes Will Face A Major Challenge Due To Its Cast Size

Holly Wheeler in Stranger Things season 5

Since Stranger Things already had over a dozen main characters and the show now has only four more episodes to tie up all of their individual stories, it is hard to see how the series will do justice to everyone’s plot. These new characters don’t help, even if the runtime of all the remaining episodes will be pretty lengthy.

Now, the final episodes must adequately explain Vecna’s Stranger Things season 5 plan, explore Will’s new powers, address Eleven’s team up with Kali, and still provide fitting endings for Joyce and Hopper, Lucas and Max, Jonathan and Nancy, Robin and Vickie, and many, many other characters. As such, these new Stranger Things characters won’t make things easier for the writers.

Source: IndieWire

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Stranger Things

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock Will Mike Dustin and Lucas seen from the point of view of a screen in Stranger Things season 2

7 Images

Eleven looking into an opening of the Upside Down with pink light in Stranger Things season 1

Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grabbing Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) shoulders in Stranger Things season 1©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection

Eleven with cables all over her head in Stranger Things season 4

Vecna looking towards Will in the trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (2025) Max and Eleven standing in front of a bus in Stranger Things.

Max and Eleven in Stranger ThingsNetflix

Stranger Things season 2, episode 2 "Trick or Treat, Freak".MovieStillsDB

The Upside Down in Stranger Things season 5Courtesy of Netflix Close

Cast

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Millie Bobby Brown Jane 'Eleven' Hopper
Finn Wolfhard Mike Wheeler

Genres Drama, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction Creator(s) Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Powered by

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Stranger Things

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Do you think introducing new characters in the final season of Stranger Things was a good decision by the Duffer Brothers, despite their earlier promise not to?

Cathal

Cathal

Cathal #JD414179 Member since 2023-10-24 0 Reviews 0 Ratings Following 0 Topics 0 Users Follow Followed 0 Followers View 26 minutes ago Some fans might argue that adding new characters in season 5 helps keep the show fresh and introduces new storylines, while others may feel it dilutes the focus on the original characters and makes it harder to wrap up everyone's arcs satisfactorily. The Duffer Brothers' promise to avoid new characters generated expectations that may not have been met, leading to potential disappointment among some viewers. Reply / Post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.

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