Six years have passed since Eleven and the teenage geeks from Hawkins, Indiana, busted Netflix rating records, popularized the word “Demogorgon,” and sparked a widespread internet demand for justice for a fictitious character. Six years later, the show is still airing, forcing its group of slightly older goofballs to fight for their youthful lives when all they actually want to do is enjoy Dungeons and Dragons and stay in the 1980s forever.
Stranger Things, a 2016 Netflix original series created by siblings Matt and Ross Duffer, shot to instant fame as viewers couldn’t get enough of Hawkins, Indiana’s monster mysteries, tight friendships, and nostalgic adventures. The young actors in it became overnight stars. Fans are getting ready to say farewell to Eleven, Chief Hopper, Mike, and the rest of the gang starting with Volume 1 of the fourth season, after six years, four seasons, and a lot of horrible hairstyles. The two episodes of Volume 2 will be released in July, and the fifth and final season of Stranger Things will bring the series to a close.
We’ll be rating the most intriguing and noteworthy facts about the show’s creators, the cast, and the characters that have sparked the curiosity of both kids and adults for this list. Since Stranger Things is one of our top 5 shows, we went through a large number of Stranger Things facts and narrowed it down to the ones we think you might find interesting because we definitely did.
We wanted to tell you all of them but here are the Top 18 Stranger Things Facts:
18. 80’s Influences
Older Stranger Things viewers will probably be happy to have the chance to relive some of their personal favorites and tropes, even though younger audiences might not be able to identify all the references to 1980s pop culture and film. When it came time to shoot, the Duffer brothers drew artistic and thematic inspiration from a wide range of filmmakers, including John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and Stephen King. They also requested that the cast watch movies like Poltergeist, Stand By Me, and The Goonies for inspiration. A technical tribute was also made. Stranger Things used an overlay of scanned grain in post-production to give the impression of old film stock even though it was filmed digitally.
17. A Fake Trailer
You already know that the Duffer brothers were greatly influenced by filmmakers like John Carpenter and Steven Spielberg, but this influence extended to the show’s audio as well. The show’s designers wanted to set it apart from Spielberg and the conventional orchestral accompaniment used in movies like E.T. by using a synthesizer-based soundtrack to emphasize the show’s 1980s setting and aesthetic. In order to test their musical concept, the Duffer brothers created a fake trailer using clips from over 25 of their favorite movies. The outcome? The final Stranger Things musical world was produced using ominous drones in the style of John Carpenter, beating out sweeping strings and horns.
16. Duffer Brothers Auditioned More Than 1000 Kids
The Stranger Things audition process was very difficult. The auditions for the roles of Mike, Eleven, Lucas, Dustin, and Will involved 956 boys and 307 girls. Finally, the principal roles went to Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and Noah Schnapp. The kids first created a group chat because they didn’t initially know one another. As a result, they had already formed a deep friendship by the time they all traveled to Atlanta for the filming.
15. Duffer Bros Same As Mike And His Friends
The four friends— Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas—are portrayed in the series as bullied school geeks. The Duffer Brothers, who created the show, had dealt with a similar circumstance in school. They even admitted in an interview that they hated high school. As a result, they had no trouble writing about these four friends. Additionally, their earlier experiences were extremely helpful in creating additional characters like Barbra, a.k.a. “Barb.” The Duffer Brothers drew influence from Stephen King’s books for the villains. They assert that King “always has really fantastic human villains,” some of whom may be eviler than supernatural evil.
14. Dacre Montgomery Had Shirtless Audition Tape
In the second season, Dacre Montgomery portrayed the greasy-headed Billy Hargrove. Randall Flagg, a well-known Stephen King villain who has featured in several of the author’s books, was a nod in the character’s design. But in his casting call, Montgomery harnessed a lot of other evil forces. He performed the rehearsed parts as he went along, but in the scene where he attempts to run down Max’s new pals, he added a Duran Duran song, started dancing, became a little crazy, and finished the performance without a shirt and a mustache. Ross Duffer claimed that they didn’t need to fly him out to Los Angeles in order to hire him. They just made him send shirtless audition tapes for that scene.
13. Kellogg’s Stock Prices Rise
Eleven’s favorite dish is evidently Eggo waffles in the Stranger Things series. Because of this, soon after the premiere of the show, the demand for Eggo waffles began to rise. Prior to the debut of the first season, The Kellogg Company, which manufactures Eggo, was not involved in the production. However, seeing the chance, they gave Netflix a classic 1980s Eggo television ad that can be used in its Super Bowl LI commercial.
12. Millie Bobby Brown’s First Kiss
Millie Bobby Brown portrays the role of Eleven on screen. Mike kisses Eleven in the final Stranger Things Season 1 episode while his friends are out looking for food. While Eleven’s first kiss happened there, Millie’s first kiss was there as well. Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, reveals in an interview that Millie, after doing that scene, said kissing sucked.
11. Stranger Things Taking Help From Games of Thrones
Stranger Things Season 1’s filming was simple, according to the show’s creator. This was due to the fact that no one was aware of it, making it easy to maintain the suspense of the endings. But now that the show has become so well-liked, everyone is following every development. Therefore, the safety of the filming location is crucial. They have gotten in touch with the Games of Thrones production team, another hugely famous show, to ask for tips and advice on security.
Also Read: How Did Jamie Campbell Bower Fit Into His Terrifying Role In Stranger Things?
10. Netflix Bought The Show Within A Day
Sometimes, you just know you got a good thing when you see it. This was exactly the case when Netflix first saw Stranger Things. as the streaming media giant snapped up the show for an 8-episode debut season within 24 hours of hearing the pitch. Producer and co-director Sean Levy assisted the Duffer bros in pitching their idea to Netflix as a dyed-in-the-wool genre show. Indebted to such directors as Steven Spielberg yet possessing darkness all its own. The rest, as they say, is history, as Stranger Things became a runaway success almost immediately.
9. The Boys Auditioned By Enacting Stand By Me
Before settling on their main cast for Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers auditioned an incredible number of young actors. But nobody was actually informed of the show’s true plot. For instance, Millie Bobby Brown conducted her audition with dummy sides—scenes that are designed to judge an actor’s skill without giving away too much about the plot—because she knew very little about her character, Eleven. The lads were then asked to act out scenes from the famous Stand By Me adaption by Stephen King, which also shares similarities with Stranger Things in terms of its young protagonists and intense coming-of-age story.
8. Stranger Things Was Rejected By Every Studio
A twenty-page pitch book and a script for the first season of the Stranger Things tv series were developed by the Duffer Brothers. They sent the idea to fifteen cable networks, but it was rejected by each one of them because they believed that a story with children as the main protagonists would not work. They even requested that the Duffer Brothers turn it into a children’s show or omit the kids entirely so that Hopper’s paranormal investigation could take center stage. But later, Netflix, a streaming service, paid an unknown sum to buy the entire season.
7. Millie Bobby Brown Shaved Her Head Because Of Charlize Theron
Many actors are passionate about what they do. Due to their dedication, people might drastically alter their personal style. However, Millie Bobby Brown, a 12-year-old actress, hadn’t anticipated it. Following her first Skype call with the Duffer brothers, a haircut apparently wasn’t brought up. The Stranger Things writers didn’t reveal to Brown that she would need to cut her hair for the role of Eleven until they first met face to face. Brown’s mom initially objected to the buzzcut, but the Duffer brothers were able to convince her by presenting her with a picture of Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road, played by Charlize Theron. With that, Millie became the beloved telekinetic child we all know and love.
6. Steve Harringtons’ Character Arc Improved
Anyone who watches 1980s movies is aware that the young antagonists frequently continue to be jerks at the very end without making much amends. The exception is Steve Harrington. Joe Keery, the actor, deserves praise from the Duffer brothers for his unique approach. Because they were so impressed with the charming young man, the writers altered the character’s plot to give him more of a love interest for Nancy. This is just another fantastic example of the depth that Stranger Things gives its characters, despite the fact that it is uncommon for a neighborhood bully to alter his ways and start hanging out with the right crowd.
5. The Demogorgon Wasn’t Completely CGI
One of the show’s main villains, the Demogorgon, had a terrifying presence on set because the special effects team mixed cutting-edge CGI with some extremely convincing practical effects. The actual Demogorgon was performed by Mark Steger, a body-based work artist who appeared in many of the scenes while donning a largely robotic outfit. In fact, the outcome was so potent that the young twin actors who played Holly in the series were afraid of the Demogorgon. The show’s producers had to reassure them by drawing comparisons between the monster and a character from the Pixar film Monster’s Inc.
4. Gaten Matarazzo’s Voice Changed While Filming
While postponing getting a haircut for a few weeks when kid performers are involved is good and wonderful, other elements come into play that is uncontrollable when working on a movie or television show. During the filming of his role as Dustin, actor Gaten Matarazzo had to record additional speech because he was going through puberty. This procedure, commonly referred to as “dubbing,” is frequently carried out during post-production to tidy up sequences. But in Matarazzo’s case, his voice was so different from what had previously been recorded for his character that it was no longer accurate.
3. Conspiracy Theorists
Stranger Things show was almost named Montauk instead. Seems illogical? Actually, it’s a reference. According to rumors, Camp Hero in Montauk, New York, is the location of several top-secret government initiatives. These experiments allegedly covered everything from time travel to what is known as “psychological warfare,” according to conspiracy theorists. Alternatively, “the effort to intimidate another by any means required.”
The Montauk Project series’ author, Preston Nichols, claims that he buried memories of his personal involvement with the operation. It appears that some of what Nichols recounts is quite similar to what was included in the show.
2. Bob Newby Was Going To Be Originally Killed By Will
Bob Newby played by Sean Astin provided a mystery solver and a Boy Scout’s moral compass for the second season, but the character has changed significantly since his debut. Although Astin is a living tribute to The Goonies, the Duffer brothers weren’t first sure they wanted him for the part because they thought he could stand out too much as a famous geek idol. They then intended to kill him off right away, but Astin and the character were just too good.
The way they intended to get rid of him, however—Will was going to kill Bob—is what really shocks. It was planned for Evil Will to appear much earlier in the season and put an end to the man dating his mother. Fortunately, the plot was abandoned, and Astin persuaded the Duffer brothers to kill him horribly in the style of Jaws. Bob, you died a hero!
1. There’s A 30 Page About Of The Upside Down
The Duffer brothers’ dark, lonely, and distinctive visual style for their Stranger Things netherworld, the Upside Down, was loved by viewers. However, by the time Season 1 was over, this strange universe was still very much a mystery, allowing plenty of room for questioning and interpretation from the viewer. The Duffer brothers, though, are not done yet.
To explain the Demogorgon and the Upside Down, they actually created a 30-page booklet but intentionally kept a lot of it a secret throughout the first season. We are eager to learn more about this world of evil and monsters in the upcoming seasons, which promise to provide that information.
Also Read: Top 10 Best Stranger Things Episodes: Gets Awesome With Each Episode
