‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Producer Admits ‘The Pressure Is On’ For Them

Note: This story contains possible spoilers.

Two months after the release of Stranger Things on Netflix, quotable lines, memes, and costumes have emerged. Part of the show’s charm was its release that was devoid of hype. Stranger Things came out of nowhere, but it quickly became one of television’s most talked-about shows of 2016. It wasn’t surprising that the show was renewed. Producer Shawn Levy admits to Collider that “the pressure is on” for them to come up with an intriguing Stranger Things Season 2.

“It would be so blatantly disingenuous of me to say differently. It’s scary to have people love something this much. It becomes impossible to banish all thoughts of not wanting to disappoint. This has been the challenge of it: on the one hand as we’ve see in the movie world, to do a follow-up that feels like the same thing is disappointing to an audience; to abandon things or change things [from the original], that disappoints the audience.”

Fans are delighted because they’ll be able to unveil the answers to some of the mysteries revealed in the previous season. Levy reveals that Stranger Things Season 2 will have “next-level, crazy stuff” although he also talked about the challenge of working with young cast members.

When Stranger Things hit Netflix, the show’s four lead child actors easily became the viewers’ favorites. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) impressed the audience with their performances despite their young ages.

Levy finds it challenging because all four will be older in the next season, but the show’s creative team is determined to “stay honest with these kids by growing with them.”

Show creators Ross and Matt Duffer seem to value honesty in the show that they opted to embrace Matarazzo’s real-life condition and include it in the storyline. The 14-year-old has a condition called “hiscleidocranial dysplasia,” which means that apart from lacking collarbones, he still has his baby teeth. The condition is the reason why he speaks with a lisp.

Matarazzo said that he was rejected from auditions for two years because of the condition.

“It was always because of my lisp, and me being shorter and having the teeth issue, that was always the reason they couldn’t cast me,” he told radio program BBC 5 Live.

There is no announced release date yet for Stranger Things Season 2, although it is expected to come out sometime in 2017. So far, here are the things known about the upcoming season.

• The episode titles have all been confirmed. Instead of eight, Stranger Things Season 2 will have nine episodes this time. The lineup includes eerie titles such as “The Boy Who Came Back to Life” and “The Secret Cabin.”
• Four new characters will join the show. After Eleven’s sacrifice to defeat the demogorgon in a bid to save her friends, her return remains unconfirmed, but everyone is hopeful.
• The new season is set in 1984 and will have Hawkins and Upside Down as its main settings.
• The Duffer brothers consider the success of James Cameron’s creations as their inspiration. The two believe that the reason behind the success of Cameron’s sequels is that he makes them “feel very different without losing what we loved about the original.”

Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reports that interest for Stranger Things-inspired costumes have increased as people prepare for the upcoming Halloween. Fashion website Lyst reports that page views for their “Barb-style ruffled and pussy bow blouses” have seen a 42 percent increase compared to the previous month.

Last week, the site’s pink dress that closely resembles Eleven’s was viewed once every three minutes. Mesh trucker caps that are reminiscent of the one Dustin wore also received a 116 percent increase in searches.

[Featured Image by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images]