Featured Image Credit: Netflix/Shutterstock
Topics: Film and TV, Stranger Things
Jake Massey
Stranger Things first landed on Netflix six years ago, and it has gone on to become a huge hit – but a lot has changed since the show's initial release.
Set in the '80s, the hugely popular sci-fi drama follows a bunch of school kids as they explore supernatural goings-on in the fictional town of Hawkins.
The first series premiered back in 2016 and it's been almost three years since the last season – in large part due to Covid-19.
As such, the cast are now a good six years older than they were to start out with, but in the show they're still school kids.
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Indeed, in the first season, some of the stars were only 12; whereas now, their ages range from 17 to 20.
Star Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) is 18, Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) is 19, Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) is 17, Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Charles Sinclair) is 20, Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield) is 20 and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson) is 19 - while their characters are all about 14.
Natalia Dyer is 25, but her character Nancy Wheeler is only about 18, and Charlie Heaton's character, Jonathan Byers, is also around 18, but he is a full 10 years older.
Meanwhile, Joe Keery turned 30 in April – his character, Steve Harrington, has just left high school and is about 19.
Inevitably, the age gulf hasn't gone unnoticed, and fans have been quick to point it out on social media.
Come on guys, you were all cool with 'the Upside Down' and all that supernatural stuff, but a few crow's feet on a high school student and suddenly it's not believable?
The cast were, of course, also aware of this issue, and they've tried to work with it as best as they can.
In an interview with Today, Matarazzo (Dustin) said: "It's something we're always thinking about, but it's something we work with pretty well I think.
"The characters are at transitional periods in their lives... it's crazy to see what all of us looked like when we first started."
Noah Schnapp, 17, who plays Will Byers, added: "I remember in season two they told me you need to lower the pitch of your voice, you have to speak at a different level and stand shorter, I was like, 'I can't do that, I'm not like that anymore.'"
You can watch the first volume of season four now, with the second volume – comprised of two film-length episodes – due to be released on 1 July.
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