‘Stranger Things’ should “kill more people” as “we’re all too safe”, says Dustin actor Gaten Matarazzo
Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo has suggested that writers of the television series should “kill more” of the main characters to make “the stakes… much higher”.
Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson in the hit Netflix show, made the comments during a Stranger Things panel at MegaCon Orlando on Monday (February 5).
When asked what changes he would make to the series, which is expected to premiere its fifth and final season next year, the actor said (via CBR) that “it might sound messed up, but we should kill more people”.
“This show would be so much better if the stakes were much higher, like at any moment any of these kids can kick it.” Matarazzo added that he feels as though Stranger Things’ core ensemble — which includes himself, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp and Finn Wolfhard, among others — are “all too safe” from the threat of being killed off.
Most members of the Stranger Things ensemble are expected to return for the show’s upcoming season, with the characters of core cast members like Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin and Natalia Dyer all surviving the events of season four.
Matarazzo’s comments echo those made by his co-star Brown, who has suggested the show raise the stakes by killing off more characters in the past.
In response to Brown’s 2022 suggestion that Stranger Things have “the mindset” of Game of Thrones when it comes to removing characters, show creators Matt and Ross Duffer said “we’ve explored all options in the writing room”.
They continued: “We aren’t Game of Thrones. This is Hawkins, it’s not Westeros. The show becomes not Stranger Things anymore.”
Over the course of its four-season run, Stranger Things has seen recurring characters die like Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), Bob Newby (Sean Astin) and Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).
In the season four finale, Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield dies for one minute before being revived in the closing scenes. “[Killing Max] was discussed as a possibility,” Ross Duffer said of the near-death scene in the Stranger Things after-show in 2022.
“We wanted to end it with a little more of a question at the end of the season. It’s still really dark and if Max is going to be okay, we just don’t really know.”
Stranger Things’ fifth season is currently in production. Last year, Matt Duffer described the show’s final instalment as “like season one on steroids”.
The post ‘Stranger Things’ should “kill more people” as “we’re all too safe”, says Dustin actor Gaten Matarazzo appeared first on NME.
Tom Disalvo
NME
