Stranger Things was known for its perfect Halloween spooky theme. The first two seasons premiered just in time for the October holiday. Then they switched things up – premiering on July 4th last year. Season three kept the monsters, but strayed away from the Holiday theme for a July 4th theme. Why? Well, a new interview with The Duffer brothers has given light to those answers.
Down below is the interview with Matt and Ross Duffer with THR:
ROSS DUFFER We want each season to feel different, as opposed to re-creating the same thing over and over again. With season three, we realized early on that we were going to shoot mostly in the summer and that it would be released in the summer. Automatically, that gave it this very different feel in terms of both the tone and the colors. We wanted it very saturated, and we wanted this season to feel like the big Hollywood summer blockbusters that we grew up with and loved so much. There’s a little more humor in it, a little more action, and it just has a different feel than the past two seasons, which were set in the fall and a little more dreary and scary.
What is your favorite moment from season three?
MATT DUFFER We really loved the finale. You always have moments where you’re not sure whether it’s going to work, but seeing it in execution, seeing the “Neverending Story” duet between Dustin and Suzie work in the way that it did, seeing the fans react to it so positively [was great]. Gaten [Matarazzo] and Gabriella [Pizzolo] absolutely killed it. The moment we were filming it, we knew it was going to work.
ROSS We were so happy with the mall and so proud of our whole art department for bringing it to life — all these extras, their ’80s costumes and their ’80s hair. It was like a time machine.
MATT [The mall] was very transportive. It lent a joyful energy to the show that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
The show is very conscious of the Cold War. Did you plan for Russian characters from the beginning, and will we see more of them going forward?
MATT We were looking for a way to introduce new villains and new characters and new flavor into the show, and of course [the Russians] provided not just new villains but fun, endearing characters like Alexei. It was nice that we had planted it in season one, but we really had no idea that the show would go beyond that.
The interview then moved to Billy – played by Dacre Montgomery. Who, was definitely one of the breakout stars in season three – adding new layers to his character from season two.
Dacre Montgomery’s character becomes more than just the villain he was in season two. What was the inspiration behind Billy’s arc?
ROSS The Billy arc that you see in season three was initially going to be in season two. We came off of season one, we were so excited by the response, and we sort of poured in all of these ideas into season two, which included the Billy arc as well as other ideas that are now filtering into season four. Immediately we knew that the Billy arc would be better served over an entire season, and Dacre is a force of an actor. The minute we saw his audition tape he just blew us away, so we were very excited to give him that center stage in season three.
MATT What’s cool about a show, as opposed to a movie, is you’re able to adapt the scripts to the actors based on what you’re seeing day to day. Dacre didn’t have a ton of screen time in season two, but he made the most of it. With an actor like that, you can take him really far, so you start to write for him.
What’s the status of shooting season four?
ROSS Everyone’s excited to get back to work, but the priority is the safety of the cast and crew, and that will dictate when we go back.
MATT We’ve had a lot more time to work on the scripts. For the first time, we have all the scripts written and we’re able to look at it as a whole piece and make adjustments.
Will season four be the last?
ROSS Season four won’t be the end. We know what the end is, and we know when it is. [The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.
Source: THR
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