Stranger Things Season 2 is now in production. Here's everything we know about it so far.
Netflix’s Stranger Things has abruptly emerged from the proverbial Upside Down to take its place as a pop culture phenomenon. It also happens to be one of the streaming outlet’s biggest hits ever with a reported 8.2 million people watching Season 1 in its first 16 days; a feat that apparently surpasses Netflix’s popular Marvel shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and even its headline-generating Making a Murderer documentary series. In other words, the confirmation of Stranger ThingsSeason 2 wasn’t exactly surprising.
“Season 2 is bigger and potentially darker in its stakes,” director and executive producer Shawn Levy told Vanity Fair last week. “The threat, which in Season 1 was to Will Byers, has grown. That’s all I’m going to say! But, I will say Season 2 has a bigger cast and is definitely loyal to the kind of magical storytelling that we established in the first season. It’s character-based and still about our core group of characters.”
You can expect more screen time from one of that core group, too. Noah Schnapp's Will Byers was (naturally) absent from much of the first season, but that won't be the case this time. "“In the last episode, I threw up a slug, so Season 2 begins with what happens from there. There may have been some effect on him. I may or may not have turned into a monster. You’ll have to watch to find out.”
Stranger Things Season 2 Cast
In addition to the returning cast (more on that down below), Stranger Things Season 2 has added some high profile new members. The news and character descriptions come courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.
Sean Astin (The Goonies) will play Bob Newby "a kind-hearted former nerd who went to high school with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) and now manages the local Hawkins RadioShack." Just the fact that there's a RadioShack that is probably useful and profitable is a wonderful piece of 1984-appropriate detail.
Paul Reiser will play Dr. Owens, "a high-ranking member within the Department of Energy on a 'clean-up' assignment who is tasked with containing the events of last year." If only we could think of another '80s genre movie that Reiser appeared in a supporting role in the sequel...
Linnea Berthelsen is Roman, "an emotionally damaged, magnetic young woman who suffered a great loss as a child. Although she does not live in Hawkins, she is mysteriously connected to the supernatural events at the lab." Is that "great loss" linked to The Upside Down? Who knows. Probably!
Shortly after severing ties with Adult Swim in a very public and acrimonious way--accusing the network of alleged misogyny and supporting shows that appeal to alt-right, white nationalism--Variety reports that Mr. Gelman will be making the jump to Netflix by joining Stranger Things season 2.
Gelman, who most recently appeared in Fleabag and Brett Gelman's Dinner in America, will being playing Murray Bauman in Stranger Things, a disgraced journalist turned conspiracy theorist who finds himself investigating a cold case in the show's central Indiana town. One has to wonder if the cold case could in fact involve Barb? It'd be nice to see if someone finally cared to discover what happened to her.
It is unclear whether he will find his way to the Upside-Down, but once he meets Eleven and the core boy-heroes of this saga, it wouldn't seem impossible...
Want to know who's coming back? Well, crane your neck and check out an image from the first table read for Stranger Things Season 2...
And speaking of things that surprise absolutely nobody, that photo confirms what TV Linefirst reported: that Millie Bobby Brown will return as Eleven for Stranger ThingsSeason 2. Perhaps they saw all those Eleven cosplayers at New York Comic Con (there were so many!) or Eleven Halloween costumes (my local supermarket was stripped clean of Eggos) and realized that there would be riots if this didn't happen.
Stranger Things Season 2 Release Date
Stranger Things season 2 will arrive in 2017. You can bet we'll let you know as soon as we hear more!
Stranger Things Season 2 Trailer
When Netflix revealed that Stranger Things Season 2 was a go they did it with this cool little teaser that revealed the episode titles as well:
And while it isn't a trailer, this properly 1980s-styled news report covering the events of season one might also hold a couple of clues for season two:
We wrote about this in more detail here if you're interested.
Stranger Things Season 2 Story
Stranger Things Season 2 will take place in the Fall of 1984 (season one took place in November of 1983).
Stranger Things creators and showrunners the Duffer Brothers told Entertainment Weekly that if Spielberg, Cronenberg, and Carpenter were the most notable influences on season one, expect to feel some James Cameron in season two. I think one of the reasons his [James Cameron's] sequels are as successful as they are is he makes them feel very different without losing what we loved about the original," Matt Duffer said. "So I think we kinda looked to him and what he does and tried to capture a little bit of the magic of his work.”
They also expect to reveal more about the mysteries of the Upside Down. We obviously have this gate to another dimension, which is still very much open in the town of Hawkins," Matt Dawkins said. "And a lot of questions there in terms of, if the Monster is dead, was it a singular monster? What else could be out there?"
They also promise a similarly disciplined approach as Season 1, while delving deeper into the mythology of the 1980’s-set series that will reportedly even take a field trip outside its small Indiana town of Hawkins. Of course, an obligatory return trip to the Upside Down is also in the cards, with more bizarre creatures possibly lurking.
Executive producer Shawn Levy spoke with Southern California Public Radio, and promises they will rise to the occasion. "It’s scary to have people love something this much," he said (transcribed quotes via Collider). "It becomes impossible to banish all thoughts of not wanting to disappoint. This has been the challenge of it: on the one hand as we’ve see in the movie world, to do a follow-up that feels like the same thing is disappointing to an audience; to abandon things or change things [from the original], that disappoints the audience."
But this is the most promising bit. "A lot of Season 2 is next-level, some crazy stuff, but we must service these characters who are now beloved, who are known to the audience."
We can handle some "next level crazy stuff!"
Stranger Things Season 2 Characters
The cast of Stranger Things will be growing with the addition of three new major characters.
Sadie Sink will play Max, "a tough and confident girl whose appearance, behavior and pursuits seem more typical of boys than of girls in this era. She has a complicated history and is generally suspicious of those around her."
Interestingly enough, with the recent Season 2 teaser trailer rolling out a list of the episode names, the title “Madmax” seemingly makes more sense in light of this revelation. Compounding her contemporaneous rebellion against gender norms, Max will also apparently get around town on a skateboard.
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Dacre Montgomery will play Billy, "Max's hyper-confident and edgy older step-brother. He steals girlfriends away from their boyfriends, is great at drinking games and drives a black Camaro. But lurking under his apparent charisma, is a violent and unpredictable nature."
Both of the above casting descriptions come via The Hollywood Reporter. THR also has word that both Joe Kerry and Noah Schnapp have been promoted to series regulars for Stranger Things season 2, so expect a lot more of Steve Harrington and Will Byers this time around!
Stranger Things Season 2 Episodes
The good news is that Stranger Things Season 2 will be a little longer, with a whopping nine episodes this time around. What, not eleven? C'mon!
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 1: Madmax
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 2: The Boy Who Came Back to Life
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 3: The Pumpkin Patch
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 4: The Palace
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 5: The Storm
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 6: The Pollywog
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 7: The Secret Cabin
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 8: The Brain
Stranger Things Season 2 Episode 9: The Lost Brother
The Duffers made an experimental move, revealing the titles for the 9-episode sophomore season; a prescient gift they might end up having to rescind.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Duffer Brothers discuss the perils of constructing a mythology-rich, trope-filled continuity such as Stranger Things in an age – the polar opposite of the show’s early-1980’s setting – where the internet has not only given potent platforms to fans and theories, but can be perilous when it comes to crucial secrets. They admit that the move to unveil the Season 2 episode titles was a risky gambit designed to make the most of what little they had on the table at the time. However, since the move might have revealed too much about the state of the Season 2 scripts, they also hint that those titles might have to change. According to the Duffers:
Ross: That was all our idea, so if it blows up in our faces …
Matt: Netflix had another teaser, but it was about going back to stuff that had happened already. I thought it wasn’t exciting enough, and we wanted to provide some hint of where we were going in season two without giving anything away. I do think some of the titles will change. There were titles we didn’t want to put on there because we felt like it would give too much away. The whole season was already broken when we did this.
Ross: So, we did have a lot that we could tease.
The Season 2 titles were named as such in their intended order: “Madmax,” “The Boy Who Came Back to Life,” “The Pumpkin Patch,” “The Palace,” “The Storm,” “The Pollywog,” “The Secret Cabin,” “The Brain” and “The Lost Brother.” Indeed, there are potent elements within those titles that have led to fan speculation. In the case of “Madmax,” it essentially reveals the episode’s focus on a new adolescent female tomboy character named Max. Thus, the Duffers might regret having revealed those titles. However, the die is cast and they do acknowledge the idea that genuine details about Season 2 are out there amongst the array of fan theories on community platforms like Reddit. However, not all of it is legit.
Matt: Even if they aren't the final chapter titles, everything in that teaser is major. But they’re ambiguous enough that no one is going to be able to figure it out. Some of the fan theories online are amazing. Most are wrong, but I’ve read a few that are right or very close. Is it Reddit? Some of those people have figured stuff out based off of the chapter titles.
Interestingly, when it comes to said Season 2 episodes, the Duffers also acknowledge the rather unconventional quantity of nine. Typically, when a risky television project becomes a proven success, the episode numbers are bumped up to fit a paradigm, which for the average Netflix show is somewhere around thirteen. However, Stranger Things is a unique phenomenon whose thematic resemblance to 1980’s adventure and horror films also inspired its more cinematic structure; something that the Duffers – who grew up more drawn to film than serial television – feel would be watered down by going too far beyond the initial eight-episode structure, compromising with nine.
Matt: It’s a weird number, right?
Ross: Netflix didn’t pressure us to do more or anything. We don’t feel like we need a full 10 episodes. But it can’t quite fit in eight, so that’s how we ended up in nine. And I think in future seasons it will be the same thing. Let’s break out the story and see what we need. Whatever number it ends up at, great. The thing I like about keeping it down to eight or nine is that we’re able to more meticulously control things and try to keep it from turning into this machine that’s grinding things out. If it gets much longer, it could become unwieldy and just turn into a traditional show — which is what we’re avoiding.
Stranger Things was a topic of discussion on the August edition of Sci Fi Fidelity on the Den of Geek Podcast Network. Listen on Soundcloud or simply play the episode below.