Stranger Things Quietly Fixes Editing Error in Season 5, Volume 2

This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season five.

The Duffer Brothers didn’t need to be sorcerers—or wizards—to spot this mistake.

When viewers of Stranger Things spotted a modern Under Armour shirt on Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) while she was trapped by Vecna’s vines, the show’s creators quickly removed it in a revised version of episode seven, “The Bridge.”

Holly was wearing a ColdGear shirt beneath her green sweater. The sleeve of the sweater had ridden up as she struggled to escape one of the pods Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) used to trap kids. However, since the show is set in 1987, Under Armour – the maker of the ColdGear shirt – didn’t actually exist yet, as the company wasn’t founded until nine years later.

After the second volume was released on December 25th, viewers noticed a mistake and began discussing it on X (previously known as Twitter) and Reddit.

Okay, seriously, I’m still reeling from this. Someone on X said it best: Holly wearing Under Armour in Stranger Things Season 5 is WAY more disturbing than Vecna himself! And honestly? They’re not wrong. It just…doesn’t fit her character, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. It’s a small thing, but it’s genuinely unsettling! I can’t unsee it.

You know, as someone who follows trends and online chatter, I’ve seen a lot of reactions to little slip-ups. And honestly, one Reddit user really hit the nail on the head – they said it wasn’t a big deal at all! Mistakes happen, and sometimes they just fly under the radar. It’s a good reminder not to sweat the small stuff, right?

After some discussion, a mistake was quickly corrected. Now, as Holly freed herself from Vecna’s trap in the Abyss (also called Dimension X), the Under Armour logo that was previously on her shirt has disappeared.

For the first four seasons of Stranger Things, Holly – previously portrayed by twin actresses Anniston Prince and Tinsley Price – wasn’t aware of the mysterious Upside Down. However, she has a much more significant part to play in the show’s final season.

Interestingly, Matt Duffer revealed that he and Ross Duffer didn’t originally plan for Holly to play a significant role in the show. They later discovered she was crucial to helping Max, played by Sadie Sink, escape Vecna’s control.

We always planned for Max to be stuck inside Vecna’s mind, but her storyline changed quite a bit as the writers and I developed it, he explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview.

Now, grab some Peanut Butter Boppers and keep reading for some supernatural Stranger Things secrets.

Volume three of Stranger Things premieres on Netflix Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET.

We always intended for Max to be caught in Vecna’s mental world,” he explained to The Hollywood Reporter in a December 25th interview, “but her storyline changed quite a bit as the writers and I developed it further.”

Now, grab some Peanut Butter Boppers and keep reading for some supernatural Stranger Things secrets.

Volume three of Stranger Things premieres on Netflix Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET.

Before creating Stranger Things, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer worked on M. Night Shyamalan’s television series Wayward Pines. Their initial idea for the show was actually called Montauk.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that it’s incredibly difficult to convince people to change a title once you’ve become attached to it. He said that when they first suggested Stranger Things, it was a struggle to get others to accept it.

The creators of the show originally wanted to film on Long Island, but it turned out to be too difficult to do.

Okay, so Montauk… I’m obsessed with that place! It’s right on the coast, and you guys, it was the inspiration for Amity in Jaws – which, let’s be real, is the greatest movie ever made. I was so excited when I heard they were thinking of filming there! But then someone pointed out that shooting on Long Island in the winter? Forget about it! It would have been a total nightmare – freezing cold and way too expensive. It just wouldn’t have worked, sadly.

Atlanta ultimately became the home base for production.

Before Netflix decided to air the show, nearly 20 other networks turned it down, according to Vulture. Executives at those networks thought viewers wouldn’t connect with a series featuring 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 a release, forcing her to confront herself and step into the spotlight. Looking in the mirror afterward, she felt a responsibility to inspire others, realizing that true beauty has nothing to do with hair.

She found inspiration for her work in Charlize Theron’s performance in Mad Max: Fury Road, and also looked to old yearbook pictures of her fellow actress, Winona Ryder.

She remembered Winona Ryder rocking a pixie cut years ago and admitted she was considering getting the same style herself.

The British actress shared that she used a surprising resource to nail her 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.” She credited it with helping her perfect the accent.

The Duffer brothers used scenes from the movie Stand By Me when auditioning young actors to find the four main child stars for their show.

The brothers had a specific vision for the character of Mike, but that changed as soon as Finn Wolfhard auditioned.

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 Finn’s personality and energy.

Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin, also had a big impact on the character’s development. According to Matt, they initially envisioned Dustin as a typical nerd, but after meeting Gaten, they rewrote parts of the show to better suit his talents and personality.

After the show became popular, Kellogg’s noticed a big jump in Eggo waffle sales, likely due to the character Eleven’s love for them. Sales increased by 14

Let me tell you about a genuinely heartwarming moment! Back in early 2018, I was scrolling through Twitter and saw this amazing request from a fan. She jokingly asked if I’d take her senior portraits, and I couldn’t resist! I said, ‘25,000 retweets and I’m there, school sweatshirt and trombone included!’ Well, her tweet blew up, and honestly, I’m a man of my word. We had a blast shooting those photos, and it was such a fun way to connect with a fan. It just goes to show, a little kindness and a willingness to have fun can go a long way!

He jokingly predicted on Instagram that, 24 years later, he’d be known for crashing someone else’s high school senior photos.

Later that year, Harbour playfully offered to officiate a fan’s wedding if she could get 125,000 retweets and a piece of the wedding cake. He became legally ordained and ended up performing the ceremony while dressed as his character, Chief Hopper.

Fans often speculated that Eleven might be Hopper’s biological daughter, but he ultimately became a father figure to her. A touching detail in the season two finale showed Eleven wearing a blue braided bracelet – a bracelet Hopper always wore, made from a ribbon belonging to his deceased daughter – at her school dance.

Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, shared that her first-ever kiss was with Finn Wolfhard (Mike) during season one of the show. She described it as a bizarre experience, saying it felt overwhelming to be kissing someone with so many people watching – around 250, to be exact!

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 told her he was about to kiss her, saying, “He was like, ‘I’m coming in,’ but he said it in a really strange way – almost like a ventriloquist! It was so bizarre.” She shared this story during an appearance on The Tonight Show in 2017.

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who star as Nancy and Jonathan in the show, started dating in 2016 and have generally preferred to keep their relationship out of the public eye.

Natalia shared with Refinery 29 that she values keeping her personal life—relationships with family and friends—private. However, she also acknowledged that collaborating with someone you see outside of work can be enjoyable, saying, “It’s always really fun.”

Surprisingly, Joe Keery’s character, the perfectly-haired Steve Harrington, wasn’t originally meant to survive the first season.

According to Ross, they quickly grew fond of the actor playing Steve during the first season. This led them to create 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 the actor brought much more depth to the role.

18. Also slated to perish was Eleven. Yes, really.

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 continue beyond one season, they had to change that storyline. They knew the show wouldn’t work without Eleven, and they quickly recognized how talented Millie Bobby Brown was. If Stranger Things continued, Eleven needed to survive.

The seventh episode of the second season, called “The Lost Sister,” nearly didn’t make it onto screens. The Duffer brothers told Vulture they worried the episode – which focuses on Eleven searching for another child with similar experiences – would disrupt the story’s flow.

Matt explained that as they started writing the episode, they questioned whether it was actually necessary. They even considered cutting it entirely, but the ending involving Eleven didn’t work without it. It just didn’t feel right. Ultimately, they decided the episode was essential.

20. Eleven’s sibling was written to be a boy, with the episode originally titled “The Lost Brother.”

Once the audition was open to all young actors, Linnea Berthelsen won the role. The resulting episode showed Eleven meeting her “sister,” Kali. According to Matt, Linnea and Millie (who plays Eleven) connected really well, and Millie specifically requested to work with Linnea.

Nicola Coughlan, the actress 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 has said Hawke was much better suited for it than she would have been.

She explained that actors can learn a lot by looking at roles they didn’t land. It helps them realize it’s not about them personally – sometimes you’re just a good fit for a part, and sometimes you’re not.

Before becoming famous for her role as Sarah on the Netflix series Outer Banks, Madelyn Cline played the character Tina, a popular and somewhat unkind student, in the second season 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.

I was absolutely floored when I heard what Dacre did to land a role! He literally filmed himself dancing – and I mean really dancing – to 80s classics like “Come on Eileen” and “Hungry Like the Wolf,” wearing next to nothing! He was so nervous about sending the tape, worried it would either ruin his career or finally get him noticed. Thankfully, he took the leap, and it totally worked out for him. It just proves how much courage and risk-taking can pay off!

As the show entered its third season, Deadline reported significant pay raises for the cast. The younger actors saw their per-episode salary jump from around $30,000 to over $200,000, and potentially as high as $250,000. Winona Ryder and David Harbour were earning approximately $300,000 to $350,000 per episode, while Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton were making between $100,000 and $150,000.

Priah Ferguson was originally only meant to be in one episode of season two as Erica, Lucas’s feisty younger sister. However, the Duffer brothers loved her performance so much they kept adding her to more scenes. Because of her popularity, 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.

It was quite a challenge keeping up with the kids’ growing feet,” costume designer Kim Wilcox explained to TopMob News. “One child, in particular, outgrew his shoes every three weeks, needing a half-size bigger! To solve this, we started buying five pairs of the same shoe from brands that offered a range of sizes. That way, whenever a child had a growth spurt, we’d always have a pair that fit.

The Duffer brothers, when creating the show, drew inspiration from films like The Goonies, E.T., and Stand By Me, but they made sure not to make those influences too obvious.

As a huge fan, I always found it fascinating to hear about the initial vision for Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers explained to The Daily Beast that when they first pitched the show to Netflix, they created a lengthy, two-and-a-half-minute trailer. It wasn’t just random clips, though! It was a carefully crafted montage of around 20-30 movies, all blended together to give a feel for the story they wanted to tell. They said these films were deeply ingrained in their childhoods – a huge part of who they are. But surprisingly, once they were actually writing the episodes, they didn’t spend much time referencing those movies. They focused on letting the characters and the story naturally unfold, because if they’d kept trying to cram in references, it would have become confusing and disjointed.

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 rely entirely on practical effects, but we quickly learned how challenging that would be,” Ross said. “Those who created films like The Thing and Alien were truly impressive. Practical effects require a lot of time and careful planning. We were writing scripts very quickly, but didn’t have the months needed to prepare everything. When we got to set, a lot of the ‘old school’ ideas just weren’t feasible because we simply didn’t have the time.

The creators, the Duffer brothers, originally planned for the show to last five seasons. According to Netflix executive Matthew Thunell, much of what they imagined back in 2015 is now happening as the series nears its conclusion. Variety magazine reported that each episode of season four cost around $30 million to produce.

Although the creators of Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers, know how the show will eventually end, they aren’t finished with the story or the world of 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 early stages – they haven’t even shared the concept yet. While they’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, Matt and Ross confessed that Finn had already correctly guessed what the series would be about, calling it “very, very different.” They emphasized that Finn is the only one who knows the premise so far.

2025-12-31 00:19

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