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Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Calb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp in Stranger Things
This interview contains spoilers for Stranger Things 5, Volume 2.With Stranger Things approaching its long-awaited and highly-anticipated series finale, creators the Duffer Brothers are beginning to open up about what fans can expect from the show’s most ambitious chapters yet.
Episodes 5, 6, and 7 of Season 5 raise the emotional and thematic stakes in ways that reflect everything the series has been building toward since its debut, from the mythology of the Upside Down to the deeply personal journeys of its core characters. Ahead of the latest batch of Stranger Things 5 episodes hitting Netflix, Collider’s Steve Weintraub interviewed Matt and Ross Duffer, where the pair discussed the possibility of a future physical media release, how early the mythology of the Upside Down was mapped out, the responsibility of handling one of the show’s most intimate character moments, and the mounting pressure of delivering a finale that balances spectacle with heart after nearly a decade of storytelling. On a Potential 4K Box Set and the Future of Physical Media The Duffers would be big supporters of a physical release. COLLIDER: I just really want to start with congrats on Episodes 5, 6, and 7. I think fans are going to love them. I thought they were great. The first question I have for you guys is have you and Netflix discussed doing any sort of 4K, big box set of Stranger Things for after the series has wrapped? ROSS DUFFER: Cannot confirm or deny, Steve. But I do love, I will say, I do love physical media releases, obviously. So that would be…ROSS DUFFER: Well, yeah, the sound and picture, much more limited compression. So I will just say we would be huge supporters of it, if that were true.ROSS DUFFER: I know. I miss the days of the DVD extras. I know. Those were so great.When the Upside Down Mythology Was Fully Defined "So it's been a relief to finally be able to share that with fans." When did you guys actually come up with the full story of the Upside Down and how it's like a wormhole leading to the abyss? Was this all stuff that you had at the very beginning, and how much was it sort of like figuring out after the show was on, “Oh, wait a minute. We need to really figure all this out”? MATT DUFFER: Well, some of the show was that, obviously, not the wormhole aspect. That was maybe halfway through working on Season 1. And Netflix really wanted to understand the mythology behind the Upside Down, even though we were like, “We're not going to get into that right now. It's too much.” But they still wanted to know it. So I remember being frustrated by that at the time. I was like, “I don't have time to write down the whole mythology of the Upside Down.” But it was good because it forced us to sit down with our writers and kind of figure out exactly what it was. And we've just been holding those cards close to the vest all the way up, I guess, for 10 years now. So that was all laid out. That was all laid out. So it's been a relief to finally be able to share that with fans. Related After Almost 10 Years, the Real Reason ’Stranger Things’ Is Ending With Season 5 Will Change How You See the Finale The Duffers always knew where the story stopped. Posts By Hannah Hunt Crafting Will’s Coming Out Scene in Episode 7 "Noah was giving it his all, every single take." Episode 7 has one of the biggest scenes in the show, and it doesn't involve any action. It's Will coming out to his friends saying, “I don't like girls.” It's such an important scene on so many levels for Will and his family and friends, but also to all the people around the world who are going to be watching and how impactful it will be to a lot of people who are afraid to come out to their friends or family. Can you sort of talk about this scene and the importance of getting it 100% right? ROSS DUFFER: Yeah, we absolutely wanted to get it right for all the reasons that you just stated, I think. Of all the scenes across ten years of five seasons of the show, this is the one that I think Matt and I spent the longest on in terms of writing and rewriting just to get it where we felt was right, but the real true litmus test for us was Noah, and of course we've known Noah over the years, we've talked to him about his personal experience, and we knew that if he felt it was right for Will and felt authentic then we would feel comfortable. And so once Noah responded to it, and he really did, then the pressure just switched over to Noah about performing this, because it was a really emotional day. I think he had it about two months in advance, and he just felt the responsibility to get this just right. And obviously, he did a beautiful job, and he poured so much of himself into the scene that day. MATT DUFFER: But I would say it was really one of my favorite days of filming ever, because I mean, not only did we get this amazing performance and were able to watch this amazing performance from Noah, but even everybody from the cast was there supporting him, right? I mean, sometimes you have actor, they're off camera, especially when you have that number of people, not everybody is there, but they were all there all day for Noah. And then when the camera flipped around and you're on the reaction shots, because we got so many wonderful reactions from the cast, Charlie in particular breaks my heart. I mean, Noah was giving it his all, every single take. I mean, this was for 12 hours. And that he was drained by the end of the day, but I've never seen someone more relieved in my life. So he was so determined to get it right and had put so much effort into it. So I'm really proud of him and really proud of that performance. The Meaning of Bloodlines, Human Evil, and Episode 7’s Ending There are three challenges the party is facing going into the finale. I want to dig deeper, but I'm running out of time. How nervous should fans be with Episode 7 when it's basically saying that even if you kill Vecna, there's two other characters that have the blood? ROSS DUFFER: Well, you know, there's always been sort of two antagonists across every season of the show. There's always a supernatural threat, but there's always a human threat to or often a military threat, obviously, which began season one with Brenner. So we really wanted to talk about this idea of, yeah, even if you defeat the supernatural evil, how do you stop the human evil? And what does that look like? And that's a big reason why we brought Collie back into the show, because she represents a very different point of view than Mike, where he's all thinking about rainbows and butterflies on the other side of this. And her outlook is much more pessimistic. And you could say, I mean, perhaps more grounded, at least from her point of view, or more realistic. Subscribe for Insider Stranger Things Coverage and More For deeper context on Stranger Things' finale moments and the Upside Down, subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive behind-the-scenes insight, creator commentary and scene analysis that enrich your understanding of the show. Subscribe Subscribe for Insider Stranger Things Coverage and More For deeper context on Stranger Things' finale moments and the Upside Down, subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive behind-the-scenes insight, creator commentary and scene analysis that enrich your understanding of the show. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. And so you have Eleven sort of caught between these two worldviews. And we really wanted that to be the big question of, “What is she going to do? And what does life look like after this, if they are able to defeat this evil?” MATT DUFFER: And destroy the Upside Down. So there's three things going on, three challenges that they're presented with moving into the finale. Writing the Series Finale and Sticking the Landing "But we knew that was the most important part of ending the show." I obviously don't want to know spoilers about the series finale, because I want to watch it without spoilers. But you guys wrote the series finale and sort of talk a little bit about the pressure of making sure that the finale not only has crazy action, but also really important human moments and emotional moments for the cast and these characters that we have come to love over these 10 years. MATT DUFFER: I mean, yeah, I mean, that's exactly it. I mean, that was what we were trying to do with the finale. And I mean, people will definitely let us know whether we were successful or not. I think that is why we're as proud of the finale, because I do think it does provide both. I mean, it's in terms of scale, it's the most massive episode ever. But it also has an equal amount of very sort of quiet and intimate character moments. It's really kind of almost like two episodes in one with very different feelings. So yeah, hopefully we get both. But you know, at the end of the day, as much as we love the monsters and spectacle, I think people care more about the characters. So a lot of the attention went there. And when we were breaking actually the whole season, we started with where we wanted the characters to ultimately end up. I mean, that was where we started with the break. And we don't usually start at the end like that. But we knew that was the most important part of ending the show. So we're happy with it, and the actors are happy with it. So hopefully others are as well. Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2 is now streaming on Netflix. The hit series stars Winona Ryder , David Harbour , Millie Bobby Brown , Finn Wolfhard , Gaten Matarazzo , Caleb McLaughlin , Noah Schnapp , Sadie Sink , Natalia Dyer , Charlie Heaton , Joe Keery , Maya Hawke , Priah Ferguson , Brett Gelman , Jamie Campbell Bower , Cara Buono , Amybeth McNulty , Nell Fisher , Jake Connelly , Alex Breaux , and Linda Hamilton . Stranger Things Like 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 7 Images Close Cast See All Genres Drama, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction Creator Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Powered by Expand Collapse
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