Please be aware this article contains a small spoiler for the final season of *Stranger Things*, but it’s nothing major and shouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of the show.
Itâs been almost 10 years since #JusticeForBarb took over the internet.Â
The creators of *Stranger Things*, Matt and Ross Duffer, were surprised by how much fans cared about Shannon Purserâs character, Barbara Holland, and her death in the first season.
The fan reaction was so strong that the creators of the show, the Duffer brothers, have decided to give Barb a proper resolution in the fifth and final season of the Netflix series.
As reported by *Time*’s Eliana Dockterman, who visited the set while the final season was being filmed, Barb’s body is shown partially buried in a tunnel.
After being trapped in the Upside Down for years, Barb’s body is now covered in vines and has a wound on her neck that still appears to be bleeding.
A grim, grisly final look at a fan favorite who disappeared in a pool, without a trace.
After nearly a decade since the first season of *Stranger Things* premiered in 2016, Matt and Ross Duffer are finally acknowledging the significance of Barb and what the show lost when her character was removed.
Ross told *Time* that they kept getting the same question from viewers: “What happened to Barb?” They found it frustrating because the show was really focused on Will’s story.
To which Matt added, âNetflix kept harassing us about it. And it turns out they were right.â
Ross acknowledged that the brothers hadn’t given Barb enough attention, and he believes this lack of focus from Hawkins ultimately contributed to her becoming well-known.
The final season of the show, which will wrap up the story of the Upside Down and the monsters plaguing Hawkins, will be released in three parts this fall and winter.
The show will premiere with four episodes on November 26th. Three more episodes will be released on Christmas Day, and the final episode will air on New Yearâs Eve.
The final season of the show, starring Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Sadie Sink, will begin with a sense of intense, unsettling anticipation, according to the seasonâs description.
Let me tell you, things are really coming to a head. We’re facing a final showdown, and honestly, the threat is bigger and more dangerous than anything we’ve ever seen. To get through this, to finally put this whole nightmare behind us, everyone needs to be united. Itâs going to take the whole team, working together, one last time.
For a look back at the BTS secrets that have helped bring Stranger Things to life, read on.Â
Following their work on M. Night Shyamalanâs TV show *Wayward Pines*, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer developed the idea for *Stranger Things*. The show was originally titled *Montauk*.
Matt explained to *The Daily Beast* in 2016 that it’s incredibly difficult to convince people to accept a different title once you’ve become fixated on one. He said that when they first proposed *Stranger Things*, it was a struggle to get others on board.
The creators of the show originally planned to film on Long Island, but it turned out to be too difficult to do so.
Matt told The Hollywood Reporter they chose Montauk as a filming location because of its beautiful coastline, its connection to the fictional town of Amity from the movie *Jaws* (which they love), and the potential for a ‘really cool’ vibe. However, they realized shooting on Long Island during the winter would be both unpleasant and too costly.
Atlanta ultimately became the home base for production.
Before Netflix decided to air the show, nearly 20 other networks had already rejected it, as reported by Vulture. Executives at those networks thought viewers wouldn’t connect with a series centered around four child actors.
4. To play Eleven, then 12-year-old Millie Bobby Brown had to say goodbye to her hair.
In 2018, at PaleyFest, the actress described shaving her head as the most liberating experience of her life. She explained that letting go of her hair felt like revealing her true self, as she could no longer hide behind it. Looking in the mirror afterward, she felt a strong purpose: to inspire others to see that beauty isn’t dependent on having hair.
She found inspiration for her role in both Charlize Theron’s performance in *Mad Max: Fury Road* and old yearbook pictures of her fellow actress, Winona Ryder.
She mentioned Winona Ryder’s old pixie cut was really stylish and that inspired her to try the look herself.
The British actress shared that she used a surprising source to help her nail an American accent: Miley Cyrus’s *Hannah Montana*. She told Jimmy Fallon on *The Tonight Show* that the show was ‘so good’ and that ‘everything about it is amazing,’ ultimately helping her perfect the accent.
The Duffer brothers chose the four young actors who would play the main characters by having them audition with scenes from the movie *Stand By Me*.
The brothers had a specific vision for the character of Mike. However, that changed after Finn Wolfhardâs audition.
Matt explained to *The Daily Beast* in 2016 that Mike initially reminded him of the character Mikey from *The Goonies*. However, Finn Wolfhard, who played Mike, brought a nervous and energetic quality to the role. The writers then tailored the character to fit Finnâs personality and energy.
Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin, also had a big impact on the show. According to Matt, they initially envisioned Dustin as a typical nerd, but after meeting Gaten, they rewrote the character to better suit his talents and personality.
As a lifestyle expert, I always keep an eye on how pop culture impacts trends, and the ‘Stranger Things’ effect on Eggo waffles was *huge*! After the show became a hit, Kellogg’s actually saw a 14% jump in Eggo sales in late 2017, right after season two dropped. October of that year was particularly wild â Eggo was all over social media, making it clear everyone suddenly had a craving thanks to Eleven!
In early 2018, David Harbour became an internet sensation when he agreed to take a fanâs senior portraits with her. It started when the fan tweeted, asking how many retweets it would take to get him to do her photoshoot. Harbour responded heâd do it for 25,000 retweets, with the condition he could wear the school sweatshirt and hold a trombone. True to his promise, he followed through!
He jokingly predicted on Instagram that he’d be the one to playfully take over someone else’s high school senior photos years down the line â and it seems he followed through!
Later that year, Harbour playfully offered to marry a fan if she could get 125,000 retweets and a piece of wedding cake. He quickly became officially ordained, and ended up performing the ceremony dressed as his character, Chief Hopper.
Fans often speculated that Eleven might be Hopper’s biological daughter, but he ultimately became her father figure. A touching detail revealed in the season two finale was Eleven wearing a blue braided bracelet â identical to the one Hopper always wore, and made from a ribbon belonging to his deceased daughter â to her school dance.
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, had never kissed anyone before filming the first season of the show. She described her first kiss with Mike as a ‘strange experience,’ especially with so many people watching on set. ‘It was like, ‘Whoa!’ having 250 people looking at you while you kiss someone,’ she said.
She shared what her co-star quietly said to her right before they had to kiss for a second time on the show.
She recalled that he warned her he was about to kiss her, describing how he said, ‘I’m coming in,’ but did so in a strange way. ‘It was like he was a ventriloquist,’ she explained on *The Tonight Show* in 2017, ‘it was so bizarre!’
Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who star as Nancy and Jonathan in the show, started dating in 2016 and have generally chosen to keep their relationship out of the public eye.
Natalia shared with Refinery 29 that she values keeping her personal lifeâespecially her relationships with family and friendsâprivate. However, she also noted that collaborating with someone you know well can be enjoyable, saying, ‘It’s always really fun to work with somebody you go home with.’
Surprisingly, Joe Keery’s popular character, Steve Harrington, was originally intended to die at the end of the first season.
According to Ross, they quickly grew fond of Joe Keery, who played Steve, while filming the first season. This is why they created a storyline where Steve teams up with Jonathan and Nancy to help resolve the central conflict. Originally, Steve was intended to be a stereotypical, unpleasant athlete, but Keery brought much more depth to the character.
18. Also slated to perish was Eleven. Yes, really.Â
In the book *Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down*, Ross Duffer explained that the original plan was for Eleven to sacrifice herself to save everyone. However, when they realized the show might last beyond one season, they had to change that. They knew Eleven â and Millie Bobby Brownâs performance â was crucial to the showâs success, and *Stranger Things* wouldnât work without her. So, they decided to keep her fate uncertain to allow for future seasons.
The seventh episode of the second season, called “The Lost Sister,” nearly didn’t make the final cut. The Duffer brothers told Vulture they worried the episodeâwhich focuses on Eleven searching for another child with similar experiencesâwould disrupt the story’s flow.
Matt explained that as they started writing the episode, they questioned whether it was even necessary. They seriously considered cutting it entirely, but the planned ending involving Eleven didn’t work without it. Ultimately, they decided the episode was essential to the story.
20. Eleven’s sibling was written to be a boy, with the episode originally titled “The Lost Brother.”Â
Once the audition was open to all young actresses, Linnea Berthelsen won the role. The resulting episode showed Eleven meeting her “sister,” Kali. According to Matt, Linnea and Millie (who plays Eleven) had a strong connection, and Millie specifically requested to work with Linnea.
Nicola Coughlan, known for her role in *Bridgerton*, originally tried out for the part of Robin. However, she later landed the role of Penelope Featherington. Maya Hawke ended up getting the role of Robin, and Nicola herself said Hawke was much better suited for it than she would have been.
She explained that actors can learn a lot from roles they don’t land. Seeing why another actor was chosen helps you realize it’s not about you personally â everyone is simply better suited for different parts. It’s about finding the roles you’re right for, and accepting that not every role will be a fit.
Before landing the role of Sarah on the Netflix series *Outer Banks*, Madelyn Cline played the character Tina, a popular but unkind student at Hawkins High, in season two of the show.
To land the role of Billy, the rebellious older stepbrother of Max (played by Sadie Sink), Australian actor Dacre Montgomery created a memorable audition tape. He told GQ he aimed to impress the Duffer brothers with something bold and attention-grabbing.
Dacre took a big gamble by filming himself dancing to 80s hits like “Come on Eileen” and “Hungry Like the Wolf” while wearing only a G-string. He worried about the video, thinking it could either ruin his career or land him an opportunity. Luckily, the risk worked out in his favor.
As the show entered its third season, Deadline reported significant pay raises for the cast. The younger actors saw their per-episode earnings jump from around $30,000 to over $200,000, and potentially as high as $250,000. Winona Ryder and David Harbour were reportedly earning between $300,000 and $350,000 per episode, while Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton were making $100,000 to $150,000.
Priah Ferguson, who played Lucasâs feisty younger sister Erica, was originally only meant to be in one episode of season two. However, the Duffer brothers liked her performance so much they kept adding her to scenes. As a result, she became a regular cast member in the next season.
Because the young actors were still growing during filming, the costume designers had a hard time making sure their clothes looked the same in every scene.
Oh my gosh, it was INSANE trying to keep up with the kids’ feet! Kim Wilcox, the costume designer, told me all about it. There was this one poor kid who just wouldn’t STOP growing â seriously, half a shoe size every three weeks! Can you believe it? So, she had this genius idea: she found these old-school brands that made the same shoe in tons of sizes. They’d just buy like, five pairs of each shoe, so whenever a kid had a growth spurt, they were PREPARED. It was the only way to keep everyone properly fitted, honestly!
Okay, so the Duffer Brothers? Total geniuses. They were *so* inspired by classics like *The Goonies*, *E.T.*, and *Stand By Me* â seriously, you can feel it! But they werenât just copying them, you know? They were super careful not to make the nods *too* obvious. It’s like they wanted you to *feel* that nostalgic vibe without hitting you over the head with it, and they nailed it, honestly.
When we presented the project to Netflix, we created a lengthy, two-and-a-half-minute trailer. It combined clips and ideas from around 20 to 30 movies, aiming to capture the feel of *Stranger Things*. As Matt Duffer explained to *The Daily Beast*, these films were deeply influential to us growing up and really shaped our creative vision. However, once we were in the writers’ room working on specific episodes, we rarely discussed those movies directly. Our focus shifted to simply telling the story and letting the characters drive the plot. Otherwise, it would have become a confusing and disorganized mess.
The team aimed for a classic look by minimizing special effects, but they soon discovered that was harder than they thought.
Originally, we wanted to use only practical effects, like they did in movies like *The Thing* and *Alien*. But we quickly learned how challenging that is. It takes a lot of time and careful planning. We were writing scripts fast, but we didnât have the months needed to prepare everything. By the time we got to set, many of the ideas that seemed good using old-school techniques just werenât feasible because we simply didn’t have enough time.
Oh my gosh, you won’t BELIEVE this! Apparently, the Duffer Brothers *always* knew how ‘Stranger Things’ would end â like, from the very beginning in 2015! Netflix’s Matthew Thunell told *Variety* that so much of what they originally planned is *finally* happening as we get closer to the end. And get this â each episode of Season Four cost THIRTY MILLION dollars! Can you even imagine the scale of it all? It’s just⊠mind-blowing that they had this whole story mapped out for so long!
Although the creators of *Stranger Things*, the Duffer brothers, know how the show will eventually end, they arenât finished exploring the story and its mysterious world, the Upside Down.
In an interview with *Variety*, the creators revealed they have a spin-off idea they’re really enthusiastic about, but it’s still in the very early stages â they haven’t even shared the concept yet. While theyâve been trying to keep it under wraps, Matt and Ross confessed that Finn had already correctly guessed what the series would be about, describing it as âvery, very different.â They emphasized that Finn is the only person outside of themselves who knows the premise.
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2025-10-16 20:20