Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that they almost killed a fan favorite in Season 4.
In an interview with Variety, the Duffer Brothers discussed the Season 4 fate of Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink. Max was put through a lot in the fourth season of Stranger Things, which has left the beloved character in a coma after being attacked by the vicious villain Vecna.
Although Max's fate remains unclear, Ross Duffer said that they actually almost killed her instead of leaving her in a vegetative state. "It was discussed as a possibility," he said. "For a while that is what was going to happen. But we ended up in this... we wanted to end with a little more of a question at the end of the season. It's still really dark and if Max is going to be okay, we just don't really know. We wanted to leave it up in the air moving forward."
But while Max's life was (maybe) spared, that doesn't mean that there were no deaths in Season 4 of Stranger Things. Series newcomer and fan-favorite metalhead Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, suffered a tragic, memorably epic demise in the season finale.
Fans were so outraged over Eddie's death that they started a Change.org petition to bring him back to life, which currently has over 50,000 signatures. "The Duffer Brothers have unfairly killed [Eddie] off and many other fans and I think he deserves to be brought back and not just as a flashback," the petition reads.
While it is unclear whether Eddie will be brought back to life, or Max will come out of her coma, the questions might be answered soon. As David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, predicted, "I think we'll [shoot] next year. They're finishing writing [Season 5] this year, and they need to prep and stuff, so hopefully it'll be this year." He added that "it'd probably come out mid-2024, based on our track record."
And based on comments from the Duffer Brothers, this timeline makes sense. Ross Duffer stated that the writers' room will be convening in "the first week of August." However, Stranger Things Season 5 will serve as the last season of the hit Netflix series.
Stranger Things Season 4 is currently available to stream in full on Netflix.
Source: Variety