Stranger Things

***Stranger Things*** is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the first season was released on Netflix on July 15, 2016. The second and third season followed in October 2017 and July 2019 respectively, and the fourth season aired in two parts in May and July 2022. In February 2022, *Stranger Things* was renewed for a fifth and final season.

## Stranger Things

### Executive Producers

The Duffer Brothers
Shawn Levy
Dan Cohen
Brian Wright
Cindy Holland
Jessica Mecklenburg
Matt Thunell
Karl Gajdusek
Iain Paterson
Curtis Gwinn

### Composer

Michael Stein
Kyle Dixon

## Overview

*Stranger Things* is set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The nearby Hawkins National Laboratory ostensibly performs scientific research for the United States Department of Energy but secretly experiments with the paranormal and supernatural, sometimes with human test subjects. They have inadvertently created a portal to an alternate dimension they refer to as the Upside Down, whose presence begins to affect the residents of Hawkins in calamitous ways.

The first season begins in November 1983. Will Byers is abducted by a creature from the Upside Down. His mother, Joyce; the town's police chief, Jim Hopper; and a group of volunteers search for him. A young psychokinetic girl named Eleven escapes from the laboratory and is found by friends of Will. Eleven befriends and assists them in their efforts to find Will.

The second season is set a year later in October 1984. Will has been rescued, but he begins having premonitions of the fall of Hawkins caused by a creature in the Upside Down. When it is discovered that Will is still being possessed by an entity from the Upside Down, his friends and family learn that there is a larger threat to their world.

The third season is set several months later, in the days leading up to the Fourth of July celebration in 1985. The new Starcourt Mall has become the center of attention for Hawkins residents, putting the majority of other local stores out of business due to the mall's popularity. Hopper becomes increasingly concerned about Eleven and Mike's relationship and becomes very protective of his daughter. Unbeknownst to the town, a secret Soviet laboratory underneath Starcourt seeks to open the gateway to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the Mind Flayer uses mind control to make Billy do his bidding.

The fourth season is set several months later, in March 1986. Joyce, Will, Eleven, and Jonathan have moved to Lenora, California for a fresh start. In California, Eleven struggles with the loss of her powers and being bullied in school. Meanwhile, in Hawkins, a being from the Upside Down—an entity later dubbed Vecna—begins killing the residents of Hawkins, opening new gates between the two worlds in the process. Planning to stop Vecna, Dr. Sam Owens takes Eleven to a facility to help her regain her powers. Simultaneously, Joyce and Murray fly to Russia to rescue Hopper from the Gulag in Kamchatka.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Winona Ryder ​as Joyce Byers
* David Harbour as Jim Hopper
* Millie Bobby Brown ​as Eleven
* Finn Wolfhard​ as Mike Wheeler
* Gaten Matarazzo​ as Dustin Henderson
* Caleb McLaughlin​ as Lucas Sinclair
* Natalia Dyer​ as Nancy Wheeler
* Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
* Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler
* Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner
* Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
* Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield
* Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
* Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove
* Sean Astin as Bob Newby
* Paul Reiser as Dr. Sam Owens
* Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley
* Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
* Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman
* Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna/Henry Creel/001
* Eduardo Franco as Argyle
* Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson

### Recurring Cast

* Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler
* Anniston and Tinsley Price as Holly Wheeler
* Rob Morgan as Chief Calvin Powell
* John Paul Reynolds as Officer Phil Callahan
* Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence
* Randy Havens as Mr. Scott Clarke
* Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives
* Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives
* Chester Rushing as Tommy Hagan
* Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Perkins
* Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers
* Shannon Purser as Barbara Holland
* Mark Steger as The Demogorgon
* Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier
* Peyton Wich as Troy Walsh
* Cade Jones as James Dante
* Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond
* Linnea Berthelsen as Kali Prasad/008
* Kai Greene as Funshine
* James Landry Hébert as Axel
* Anna Jacoby-Heron as Dottie
* Gabrielle Maiden as Mick
* Catherine Curtin as Claudia Henderson
* Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland
* Aaron Munoz as Mr. Holland
* Jennifer Marshall as Susan Hargrove
* Karen Ceesay as Sue Sinclair
* Arnell Powell as Charles Sinclair
* Matty Cardarople as Keith
* Cary Elwes as Mayor Larry Kline
* Jake Busey as Bruce Lowe
* Alec Utgoff as Alexei
* Andrey Ivchenko as Grigori
* Francesca Reale as Heather Holloway
* Michael Park as Tom Holloway
* Holly Morris as Janet Holloway
* Peggy Miley as Doris Driscoll
* Sherman Augustus as Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan
* Logan Riley Bruner as Fred Benson
* Logan Allen as Jake
* Livi Birch as Alice Creel
* Regina Ting Chen as Ms. Kelley
* Nikola Đjuričko as Yuri Ismaylov
* Mason Dye as Jason Carver
* Amybeth McNulty as Vickie
* Elodie Grace Orkin as Angela
* Tyner Rushing as Virginia Creel
* Myles Truitt as Patrick McKinney
* Grace Van Dien as Chrissy Cunningham
* Tom Wlaschiha as Dmitri "Enzo" Antonov
* Kevin L. Johnson as Young Victor Creel
* Clayton Royal Johnson as Andy
* Hunter Romanillos as Chance
* Joel Stoffer as Wayne Munson
* Paris Benjamin as Agent Ellen Stinson
* Ira Amyx as Agent Harmon
* Kendrick Cross as Agent Wallace
* Martie Blair as Young Eleven
* Tristan Spohn as Two
* Christian Ganiere as Ten
* Vaidotas Martinaitis as Warden Melnikov
* Nikolai Nikolaeff as Ivan
* Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Oleg
* Gwydion Lashlee-Walton as Gareth
* Trey Best as Jeff
* Grant Goodman as Freak 1
* Jessica Arden Napier as Five
* De'Jon Watts as Six
* Morgan Gao as Three
* Sparrow Nicole as Four
* Candice Rose as Laura Cunningham
* Christopher Strand as Phillip Cunningham