The creators finally address how the Stranger Things cast have wildly out-aged their roles

Stranger Things is many things. Nostalgic, spooky, obsessed with Kate Bush — but above all, it’s a show that simply refuses to come out on time. And after nearly a decade of stop-start production, the series has run into a fairly unavoidable problem: The “kids” are now adults. Actual adults, who are aging. One of them is even a mum.

Credit: Netflix

How old are the characters ACTUALLY meant to be?!

Back in season one (set in 1983), Mike, Eleven, and the rest of the Hawkins squad were meant to be about 12, which more or less matched the actors’ real ages. Fast forward to season five, set only four in-universe years later, and the characters are supposed to be around 16.

In reality? The cast are all in their early 20s. Millie Bobby Brown is 21 and married. The Upside Down is collapsing, Vecna is plotting his return, and the cast’s student discount is hanging on by a thread.

Just how many Upside Down years have ticked by?

While three and a half years have passed in reality, only 18 months have gone by in Hawkins.

Season four took place in the spring of 1986, following a six month time jump from the end of season three. As we’ll soon see, season five takes place in the fall of 1987, following an 18 month time jump from the events of season four.

Credit: Netflix

According to creators Matt and Ross Duffer, this entire aging situation is… actually not that big of a deal.

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“It’s not as dramatic as people think,” Matt insisted in a new interview with Variety. He even brought up a moment in season four where Sadie Sink filmed two scenes a full year apart, and claims nobody noticed.

Ross admitted that “if you’re paying attention, you can notice it” But Matt doubled down, insisting viewers “aren’t picking apart” the age differences and that the shocks mainly happened behind the scenes: “Coming to shoot Season 3 was shocking to me and Ross. And we had to quickly adjust the writing, because we had been writing them too young.”

To be fair, many of the multi-year gaps weren’t their fault. Season four was delayed by the pandemic, Season five by the 2023 writers’ strike, and time famously continues moving forward whether Netflix renews something or not.

Credit: Netflix

Still, even the new cast isn’t safe from the curse of aging. Matt revealed that 13-year-old Jake Connelly, who plays a new character, experienced a full vocal deepening mid-production.

“His voice has already dropped quite a bit since we shot him,” Matt said. Luckily, they’re apparently smoothing it out using EQ tech, which feels extremely Stranger Things-coded, if unintentionally so.

The Duffers may believe no one will notice the time warp happening on screen, but those who caught Will Byers’ bowl cut continuity errors from 20 paces, might have other ideas.

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Featured image credit: Netflix