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‘It would have defeated the purpose,’ Duffer brothers say ahead of final season
Jacob StolworthyThursday 27 November 2025 07:05 GMTComments
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The Stranger Things creators have addressed complaints that they don’t kill off their main characters – and revealed that Hopper and Max came closest to getting the chop.
Since the Netflix series started in 2016, none of the main ensemble have left the show, with all of the cast members making it to the forthcoming fifth and final season.
This has led to criticism that the show’s scary events are consequently less impactful – but the Duffer brothers say the decision stemmed from a desire to stay away from shock value.
“We could kill anyone off at any point very easily – it’s not difficult,” they told The Independent. “It’s more about the repercussions that would have for all of our other characters.
“We just always want to think ahead and not just do it to shock people or because people have a bloodlust, which they seem to have.”
The duo said that David Harbour’s Chief Jim Hopper was the closest to dying at the end of season three. While his fate was left up in the air, the character returned the following season.
open image in galleryDavid Harbour’s Hopper came closest to dying in ‘Stranger Things’ (Netflix)“You have those discussions, but I think it was just hard for us to let go of that character,” they admitted.
Another character they decided against killing off was Max, played by Sadie Sink, as it would have defeated the purpose of her growth throughout the show.
“Max is a good example,” they said. “It would sort of defeat the purpose of her growth that entire year. She goes through all of that to die? She finds the light and then… Some of those you talk about and it just feels mean and it goes against what you’ve been trying to say.”
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open image in galleryThe Duffer brothers toyed with killing off Max (Sadie Sink) in ‘Stranger Things’ (Netflix)According to the writers, the series being a coming-of-age story separates it from other shows unafraid to kill their main characters, including Game of Thrones.
“It’s a very different type of story that we’re telling. We just have to make sure that if and when we do it, that it doesn’t alter the tone of the show in a way that we don’t want,” they said.
The pair continued: “We want to make sure that if someone dies like Eddie, who we killed last season, his death resonates throughout the course of season five.”
Netflix will release the first four episodes of Stranger Things’s final season on 27 November. The series will conclude in December.
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