Stranger Things Season 4 Will Be Way Darker, According To Ross Duffer: 'We Can't Do The Goonies Anymore.'
One of the saddest and truest things about the kids in our favorite kid-centered TV shows: They can't stay kids forever.
Stranger Things has had a beautiful first three seasons, playing off of different 80's movies tropes from season to season - they've done nods to E.T., The Goonies, Ghostbusters, and more in their time - but these tropes are about to get a lot less innocent, becuase Season 4 finds the gang all grown up, and scattered in different corners of the world.
"When we pitched it to Netflix all those years ago, we pitched it as the kids are...The Goonies in E.T.," series co-creator Ross Duffer explained on the podcast Present Company With Krista Smith. "That's their storyline. And the adults are in Jaws and Close Encounters and then the teens are in Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween.
"But, this year, we don't have the kids. We can't do The Goonies anymore. And so, suddenly, we're leaning much harder into that horror movie territory that we love. It was fun to make that change."
Duffer also revealed on the podcast that some of the fans online have gotten startlingly good with guessing where they're going with the story - though, of course, he won't say which ones.
"I'm constantly impressed with how sharp the fans are, and how quickly they're able to put something together with very, very little information."
If you're itching to see whether your own fan theory will be proven correct, you don't have to wait too much longer: Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 premieres on Netflix May 27; Volume 2 will follow on July 1. It's a long wait, but according to Duffer, it will be well worth it:
"I think they'll be happy when they see it."
