While Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things‘ has a lot of great moving parts to it, the true standouts are the child actors and a lot of fans are getting worried that as they age it won’t work well as the seasons progress. Do you know who isn’t worried though? The Duffer Brothers. Even before they address the issue directly the answer is pretty clear as to how they’ll work around that. A year passed between the first two seasons and we already know at least another year will pass between the events of Seasons Two and Three.
While this means that there is plenty that can be going on off-screen which we’ll be missing, there is also a chance to jump in and see how our fan-favorites have been developing over time.
As Ross Duffer puts it:
“It’s better to adjust the narrative to fit the ages than to try to rush the process. They grow so fast, we would have to move at such a speed to keep them young. Even over the course of these nine episodes, you can see them getting older. That’s something that plays over a week. We want to move as fast as we can, but it’s not really dictated by the kids.”
With the development process where it stands, I wouldn’t put it past even a 2-year jump in one of the future seasons depending on how long the show does end up running for. This entire line of questioning though was to shut down rumors that Seasons 3 and 4 were to be filmed back to back for keeping up plots that had these actors still as children.
In fact, Matt Duffer goes so far as to say it is more effective growing up with the actors and seeing the transformation from child to young adult as:
“Even if I had the choice to freeze them in time, I wouldn’t. We don’t want to be repeating ourselves. This show is going to naturally evolve and feel different year to year, and that to me is a good thing. I like that we’re able to watch them grow. Look at Harry Potter. How powerful was that to grow up with those kids? For me, that made that series especially potent.”
I think that is a valid comparison and I also believe that having something happening to the kids non-stop would end up getting noticed by a few more of the parents sooner or later. With the events from The Upside Down being a slow burn, it fits better into the narrative that much of this needs to be kept a secret.
Are you happy to hear that the Duffer Brothers want audiences to grow with the kids as the series progresses or would you rather have just more tales of them while they’re young? Share your thoughts below!
