Earlier today we shared with you guys the upcoming Funko action figures coming this August based on the Netflix original series STRANGER THINGS. In that article, I pointed out that the toys represented the "lighter side" of the series after hearing that the new season was going to be "darker, more disturbing, and more horror-orientated."
Well, just a few hours later I have more words to share on the "dark, more disturbing" side of the coin.
Series producer (and sometimes director) Shawn Levy was recently speaking with THR on Facebook about the upcoming new season and talked a bit more about the darker nature of the second season. Mainly that (SPOILERS) Barb is 100% dead and her ass is not coming back.
But that's just what he would say…
Producer Shawn Levy on STRANGER THINGS 2:
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.
Right on. I'm all for the series taking risks so let it be what it's gonna be. Moving on Levy talks about the new season being much scarier than the first. Again he used the term "makes the Demogorgon look quaint" but I swear this is new info, not just a retread of the previous article we posted on the topic.
Levy on the scarier second season of STRANGER THINGS:
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.
Again, I'm totally on board with the new season being darker, scarier, and more intense. That is just what the second season should be. After all, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK went full dark and ended up as the best STAR WARS movie.
What do you think of producer Shawn Levy's comments here? Do you think the new season will be able to disappoint you no matter what they pull? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
STRANGER THINGS season 2 hits Netflix this Halloween.