Surprisingly, Millie Bobby Brown, the star actress of Stranger Things, regretted that season 4 had not made more deaths. One of the creators answers him.
Season 4 of Stranger Things just ended, and its conclusion left fans in tears, but that’s obviously not enough! Some fans criticized the showrunners, the Duffer brothers, for this conclusion less bloody than announcedarguing that the stakes for the series would be higher if there were more casualties and if the main cast members also found themselves in the hot seat.
That’s when they started massively sharing a video interview of the site The Wrap with Noah Schnapp (Will) and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) dating from May 20. Noah Schnapp clearly says: “They have to kill some people. There are too many people.And Millie Bobby Brown to add:
Yes, there are too many people. Last night we couldn’t even take a group photo because there were about 50 of us. We have to start killing people! The Duffer brothers are two sissys who don’t want to kill anyone. We have to do Game of Thrones. We need the Game of Thrones mindset.
The actress isn’t afraid to add a layer of it by requiring designers to “are killing me“, and to recall without the slightest qualm: “They tried to kill David [Harbour qui joue Hopper, ndlr] and they brought him back. It’s ridiculous.“
When these comments were reported to the Duffer brothers during their participation in the podcast Happy Sad Confused, Matt Duffer replied in a tone of defeat: “We have heard.” Then bounced: “What did Millie call us? She said we were sissies. She is hilarious. Believe us, we have explored all options.” Then he did not hesitate to give a rather strong example:
Simple hypothesis, if we kill Mike [Finn Wolfhard], it’s like… it’s depressing… we’re not Game of Thrones. It’s Hawkins, it’s not Westeros. The show wouldn’t be Stranger Things anymore, because you have to treat it realistically, right?
The author used the character of Barb (Shannon Purser) as an example, explaining: “Even when Barb dies, there are two seasons to get over it, so imagine… Is that something we want to explore, yes or no?“
He acknowledged, however, that more deaths are “on the table” given that “we are heading towards the end“, adding: “I’m basically defending myself against these Millie Bobby Brown accusations and explaining that there are lives behind it, and it has nothing to do with my sensitivity. So there you go, Millie.“
Another character was spared
During a discussion with another American media, Colliderthe Duffer brothers debriefed season 4 and confided in having saved a character that they had initially planned to eliminate at the end of volume 2. Matt Duffer explained himself on this subject: “In terms of who lives or dies, there was a version where Dmitri, aka Enzo, didn’t survive.“Dmitry/Enzo (Tom Wlaschiha) is the prison guard with whom Hopper struck up a kind of friendship and who later became a true ally.
“Then he finally got away with it. But it’s the most radical gap between the initial idea and what we decided at the end“explains Matt Duffer. During the exchange, they shed new light on their creative process. For them, “secure the landing” is always the goal when they undertake before writing a new season.
“For Matt and me, it’s such an important part“, Explain Ross Duffer. He goes on, explaining how they go about setting up those big plot points early on. The Duffers outline where they want the story to end and then work towards it. Ross Duffer goes on to say:
“When we work on a season, one of the first things we talk about is ‘where do we want this story to end? So the conclusion is always our goal. Even when we start writing episode one, we know exactly where we’re going. We have always stuck to it. And this is the case here.“
Will the Duffer brothers be as lenient for season 5? Or are they planning a major cleaning? we will have to wait until 2024 to find out!