Stranger Things producers seem to have a soft spot for Steve. The character, played by Joe Keery, is not only safe from Demogorgons and such for the foreseeable future, but he may even get a new girlfriend for Season 3. In a new interview with TV Guide , Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy teased a new romance for Steve, saying the perfectly coifed character may not be single for long following his split from high school sweetheart Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). Levy told TV Guide a new lady love for Steve is “definitely possible” on the third season of the Netflix hit.
Steve and Nancy’s relationship was a big part of the first two seasons of Stranger Things , and a love triangle formed when Nancy began hanging out with Jonathan Byers (played by Dyer’s real-life boyfriend Charlie Heaton). Now, Steve is moving on, and while Levy did not name any names when talking about Steve’s potential new love interest, all signs point to Robin (Maya Hawke), a new character who is being described as an “alternative girl” who is bored with her day job but finds excitement as she uncovers the dark secrets of Hawkins.
Levy told TV Guide :
“I can’t say too much about [Hawke’s role] except that — like we do with all of our other actors — that character, Robin, will make the most of the natural qualities that the actor brings. So Maya is this very curious, intellectual, idiosyncratic young woman; that is very much going to be the feel of Robin.”
Even if Steve doesn’t find love with Robin—or anyone else in Hawkins, for that matter—Joe Keery’s Stranger Things character probably won’t get killed off of the show any time soon. Levy told TV Line that “Steve is safe” for now.
“Honestly, the day Steve Harrington dies is the day I walk off this show,” the Stranger Things executive producer said. “I just can’t live in a world without Steve Harrington. And I think a lot of us feel that way.”
Joe Keery’s big-haired character was initially a bit of a high school bully in the first season of Stranger Things , but producers decided to give the character a personality makeover for Season 2. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter , Stranger Things creator Ross Duffer explained how Steve went from bad boy lothario to Dustin’s (Gaten Matarazzo) unexpected wingman in the second season.
“We love Joe,” Stranger Things creator Ross Duffer told THR . “We fell in love with him during the making of season one, which is why we ended up writing that arc for him… Steve was supposed to be this jocky douche bag, and Joe was so much more than that. We knew moving into season two we really wanted to utilize him, but we didn’t actually know how to do it — especially once Nancy moves on.”
Steve Harrington isn’t the only Stranger Things character who could find love in Season 3. Fans last saw Mike and Eleven (Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown) and Lucas and Max (Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink) pairing up at the Snow Ball, and those romances will continue into Stranger Things 3 , which picks up a year later in the summer of 1985.
“I think we’d all be devastated if we came back to Hawkins a year later and suddenly Mike and Eleven are history,” Levy told Glamour . “I know I want to revisit that couple, so season three does explore that romance.”
You can see Joe Keery as Steve Harrington in the Stranger Things scene below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pmHN-azEOg
The first two seasons of Stranger Things are currently streaming on Netflix.
