Stranger Things Knowledge

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The Show Was Almost Called Montauk

Before Hawkins existed, the Duffer Brothers were shopping around a series called Montauk, set in the real Long Island town and loosely inspired by the actual government conspiracy theories tied to it. Networks passed, they moved the setting to a made-up Midwest town for a broader feel, and renamed it Stranger Things (some say as a nod to Stephen King's Needful Things). There's actually a sly Montauk easter egg tucked into the series finale if you know where to look.

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Two Separate Lawsuits Claimed the Show Was Stolen

The show's origin story hasn't been drama-free off screen either. One filmmaker claimed the Duffers lifted his unmade script Totem, about a young girl with powers, while another accused them of ripping off his short film about the Montauk Project. Both cases were eventually dropped, with one plaintiff even admitting his work had nothing to do with how the series actually came together.

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The Duffers Regret Killing Off Chrissy

Chrissy's brutal death in Season 4 landed as a gut punch for fans who'd just started shipping her with Eddie Munson. Turns out the brothers felt it too. They admitted they filmed the sweet forest scene between the two characters after her fate was already locked in, and only realised how much chemistry Joseph Quinn and Grace Van Dien had once it was too late to change anything.

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A Bridgerton Star Almost Played Robin

Before Maya Hawke made Robin Buckley iconic, Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan actually auditioned for the part and came close to landing it. She's since said publicly that Hawke absolutely nailed it in a way she doesn't think she could have, which is a pretty gracious thing to admit about a role you nearly got.

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They Nearly Jumped Decades Each Season

There was a point where the Duffers seriously floated the idea of moving each new season forward a decade, starting in the 80s and eventually landing in the present day by Season 5. It would have been a wild ride through changing fashion and pop culture, but they ultimately scrapped it because they realised the heart of the show was really the kids and their journey together, not the era they were stuck in.

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The Upside Down Used to Be Called 'The Nether'

Millie Bobby Brown let this one slip on the Beyond Stranger Things aftershow: in the earliest Season 1 scripts, the parallel dimension wasn't the Upside Down at all, it was 'The Nether'. Way more gothic sounding, sure, but nowhere near as catchy or as easy for a bunch of kids on bikes to yell across a hallway.

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Sadie Sink Had to Fight for the Role of Max

Producers were initially ready to pass on Sadie Sink for Max because, at 14, she was a bit older than the rest of the Hawkins crew and they worried she wouldn't slot into the group dynamic. She refused to take the hint, pushed for more audition material, and once she got a chemistry read with Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin, the part was hers on the spot.

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Steve Harrington Was Written to Be Much Worse

The Steve Harrington fans adore today started life on the page as, in Ross Duffer's own words, 'the biggest douchebag on the planet'. Early drafts had him behaving far more aggressively toward Nancy and heading for an early death in Season 1. Joe Keery's natural charisma is basically the reason the character survived and turned into one of the show's most beloved arcs.

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Millie Bobby Brown Needed Convincing to Shave Her Head

At 11 years old, Millie Bobby Brown was understandably nervous about shaving her head to become Eleven. The Duffers ended up showing her a photo of Charlize Theron as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, reframing the look as something powerful rather than scary, and it worked. She's said she let out a proper roar the moment she saw the finished buzzcut in the mirror.

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Millie Bobby Brown's Dad Left the Room Crying During Her Headshave

Her mum actually filmed the head-shaving moment, but if you watch the footage that later ended up online, you'll notice her dad isn't in it. According to the Duffer Brothers, that's because watching his daughter go through with it was too much for him and he had to step out of the room before it was finished.