Shawn Levy says Stranger Things 2 will make the Demogorgon look quaint

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

After the massive success of its first season, all eyes will be upon Stranger Things when it returns to Netflix this Halloween. All that extra attention comes with increased pressure from fans to give them what they want, but Stranger Things executive producer/director Shawn Levy told THR during a Facebook Live interview that the upcoming season will definitely not be a fan-service season; in fact, some of the choices they've made may even disappoint fans. Steer clear if you haven't watched the first season. Here be spoilers.

We are going to do things that fans will be disappointed in, but I think they will be more satisfied by… I’ll give one example that I’ve been asked about a hundred times which is people still think Barb’s alive. Because you think you want that, but you wouldn’t really want that. I've had a lot of people, some huge celebrities come up to me at these awards shows, like "so, between us, Barb's coming back, right?" I'm like "no, you saw, she had like a creature, slug, worm, snake, coming out of her mouth. I don't know that there's a bounce back from that!" So no, we are not going to cravenly service the wish-list of fans, we're going to service the Duffer instincts and what they feel is the right story to tell.

The second season of Stranger Things will be set a year after the events of the first season and will explore the "bigger mythology" of Will Byers' disappearance as well as the determined desire of the residents of Hawkins to return to a state of normalcy. But the darkness of the Upside Down will spill forth in ways which Shawn Levy says will make the Demogorgon of the previous season look quaint.

Season two makes the Demogorgon look quaint. I was just in the edit room with the brothers yesterday and we're like "this is definitely darker, I hope everyone's down with this," because the threats to Hawkins and to our characters are bigger, darker, often times scarier. So people who found season one too scary for them, probably you're going to be more scared by season two. But again, the best thing I can tell you is that through it all, it's got the best heart. But it is, cinematically and budgetary, it's definitely more ambitious.

Stranger Things' second season will hit Netflix on October 31, 2017.