News Stranger Things - Season 5

I watched Prey in Comanche (dubbed, sadly--it was filmed in English--but at least it was still the original actors doing the dubbing) and it really added to the experience. Very solid movie.

 

Now THAT sounds interesting.

 

What's this? More Stranger Things news?!

The official Twitter account teases that the upcoming stage play, The First Shadow, may have clues for the final season. The tweet includes an ominous video featuring rewinding footage from all four seasons on an 80s television set.

But wait! There's more!

"Dear Billy" has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form...although it's going up against Andor's two best episodes.

 

I’m hoping for the best but I don’t see the writers and actors strike(s) doing the final season favors. There either needs to be a huge time jump or the “kids” are going to look ridiculous

 

At the rate things are going they're going all be pushing 30/40 by the time they actually get a chance to finish the final season.

 

I'm pretty sure it was already confirmed that there was going to be a time jump...albeit not as big as what will be needed at this point alas.

 

Between seasons 3 and 4 was the time for a sizable time jump and they still didn't do it. Oh well.

 

Yep, and the "kids" no longer have so youthful an appearance that viewers can just buy the fact they're still supposed to be in high school.

 

To make matters worse, any potential necessary rewrites to account for a hypothetical unplanned for time jump in the story may have to be rushed to try and get the show out after the strike ends. I can easily see NF holding a gun to the brothers’ heads to get their biggest hit back on streaming asap before the streamer bleeds even more money.

 

Leaked set photo from the final season here:

 

Variety has released a lengthy article focused on Noah Schnapp and how he credits the show and Will Byers for helping him coming out:

The scope of Schnapp’s life, meanwhile, was starting to feel much bigger: He’d started his own business, TBH, a hazelnut spread alternative to Nutella, and he was due to start his freshman year at the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. But he’d still not breathed a word about his own sexuality to anyone, so he decided to let Will come out (at least, to audiences, if not yet on the show itself). The result was nothing short of transformative.

“Once I did fully embrace that Will was gay, it was just an exponential speed towards accepting it for myself,” Schnapp says. “I would be in a completely different place if I didn’t have Will to portray, and to embrace and help me accept myself. I think if I never played that character, I probably would still be closeted.”

In the caption for his coming-out video, Schnapp wrote, “I guess I’m more similar to Will than I thought.” Getting to that realization was often agonizing and alienating, and something Schnapp is processing in real time. At one point in the interview, he quietly says, “I feel like this is a therapy session; I’m learning about myself.” In many ways, he still seems so young: His voice cracks when he gets excited, and he carries his body in that tentative way of so many teenagers. But with “Stranger Things” soon heading into its final season, and his closet door obliterated by a single TikTok, Schnapp is poised to launch himself into a vast future of possibilities.

“I would not want to have done it any other way.”
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The whole article is excellent but I especially loved reading about how supportive his friends and family were of him and coming out when he finally did.

The article also covers what the future holds for Will in season five:

Now that he’s out, Schnapp says, “I think the way I act in Season 5, honestly, might be a little different. I will be fully aware of who I am. Knowing all of that about myself and being able to invest that in my character, I’m honestly just excited.”
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The Duffers took that risk [letting him read the first three scripts early] because they wanted to prepare Schnapp for what lies ahead for his character in the fifth season. “Will really takes center stage again in 5,” says Ross Duffer. “This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality — it’s Will coming into his own as a young man.”
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Reading that Will retakes the spotlight in the final season has me excited. It's going to be a very long wait!

 

Yeah - ever since the early seasons where Will sort of started it all he's been sidelined by Eleven, Hopper and Max, who all got interesting things to do. He basically was just there and hitched a ride but not much else. Only season 4 restarted his character when people started speculating about his sexual orientation. Still weird and i hope he gets to do much more in the final season than just coming out. As important as that is to his character it would be a letdown if it's all that's in store for his character.

 

In a podcast episode of "Happy Sad Confused" recorded prior to the actors' strike, David Harbour about the final season (as reported by io9):

In the interview, which took place before SAG-AFTRA joined striking efforts, Harbour shared how the strikes were impacting Season 5 of Stranger Things, the highly anticipated final season of Netflix’s blockbuster streaming show. The Duffers were hard at work with scripts along with their team before the strike prompted pencils down in the writers room. However, Harbour did get to read some of the scripts, revealing “They’re terrific, as per usual. They continue to outdo themselves, these currently on-strike writers called the Duffer Brothers. It’s a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw are bigger than anything we’ve done in the past.”

When asked if he could share how soon after season 4's finale the show intends to pick up, Harbour teased that it would be, “After where season 4 ended”. He continued, “...when you watch us on that hill looking at the ash and the smoke and fires—we’re going to start somewhere after that. So you’ve got to imagine the world is a different place.” But how soon after remains to be seen, the young cast of Stranger Things have already grown into adults. “It’ll take awhile to shoot, which will be tough since we can’t get started yet, but it is what it is,” he said of the reality of the situation. “I’m excited to go back. I’m excited to wrap it up in a bold, amazing way. I’m excited to really swing with this character, because you know they’re going to pay off these OG characters: Eleven, Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike. They’re going to pay them off in big ways because they’ve lived with you for the past eight years.”

And in regards to if he’s read a version of the Duffers final script, Harbour confirmed, “I have not but I know what it is. I know where we net out and it’s very, very moving. That is the term I will use.” he teased.
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The full podcast can be watched to here:



Obviously not much is revealed that we didn't already know or suspected, but it still leaves me excited for the final season, whenever we may get it.

 

Obviously it's too early for any news about the final season with production presumably restarting soon, but there is news about the London theater production, including a still from the previews and the poster:





We also have a full synopsis with some curious reveals:

Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously, and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.

Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story—and may hold the key to the end.
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I don't think we knew anything about the plot until now so it's interesting to see how Jim, Joyce, and Bob are somehow connected with Henry Creel. Also, I don't think we knew Joyce's maiden name until now.

While I love that they're doing this stage production, it's a real bummer for me that I won't have the opportunity to see it. I wonder how much of what's explored in it will be shown directly in the final season.

 

It would be nice if a film of the stage production were released prior to Season 5.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same, even that does takeaway from the uniqueness of a stage production.

It can be done as evidenced by Hamilton but it's not something I'd like to see happen regularly.

 

If this really is significant to Season 5, I would like to this they would, they have to realize not everyone is going to be able to see the play.

 

I wish it would happen more often as we can't always see the plays we want to see--and the movie versions are often something else entirely. And having a filmed version of a stage production doesn't take away the desire to see it live. Added to that, prices for major plays are through the roof these days. It is pretty much a guarantee that people in the right geographical location who can afford to see the live production will not say "I'll watch the film instead" --so why not?

 

Yeah, you're right. I wasn't disagreeing on the necessity of it. I'm just ruminating on the magic of watching a theater production in person and how you lose some of that magic with a filmed version of the production.

Like I said, I'm thrilled that we have a filmed version of Hamilton and I've watched it at least three times. But I also wish I could've seen in it (or any version of it...) in person.

 

We saw the traveling show here in Canada in 2022. It was really great and brought a tear to my eye at the end. The actors had slightly different spins on the characters from the original cast--and the staging was set up to be moved from theatre to theatre. It was a fantastic show--I hope you get the chance to see a live performance.