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‘Stranger Things’ Creators Originally Planned to Kill Eleven in Season 1

‘Stranger Things’ Creators Originally Planned to Kill Eleven in Season 1

Are you freaking out over the title of this article?  Good, because we are too!  Can you imagine the Stranger Things universe without its most beloved character, Eleven, who is flawlessly played by the incredibly talented Millie Bobby Brown?  We can’t either!  We love Eleven!  Luckily for all of us, this didn’t happen but, it was in the original Stranger Things script for our little Eleven to die at the end of the very first season.

As it turns out, according to CinemaBlend, during a recent appearance at a Master Class Q&A session at Chapman University, the Duffer Brothers revealed their original plans for this main character’s demise at the end of the first season.  If it’s any consolation, they also revealed that originally Stranger Things was supposed to be a limited series only lasting one season.  During the Q&A session, Ross Duffer said:

“Maybe I shouldn’t say this because I like to pretend that it was all planned out, but it was originally pitched as a limited series. So it was like, Eleven was gonna sacrifice herself and save the world and then that was gonna be it, because there was a moment where limited series were a big deal.”

‘Stranger Things’ Creators Originally Planned to Kill Eleven in Season 1

While this revelation definitely comes as a shock to Stranger Things fans, if the show had been a limited, one-season series and, if Eleven had to die, it’s 100% true to her character to die saving the rest of her friends.  Again, luckily for us, Netflix and the Duffer Brothers have already announced that the series is expected to have at least a 3 to 4 season run.

Ross Duffer further explained that it was thanks to the folks at Netflix that Eleven’s story was able to continue.  Apparently, in their pitch meeting with the streaming service, they announced their plans for the limited, one-season series but, Netflix wanted more.  The conversation led to an off-the-cuff pitch for what we now know is the second season of the series.  Ross Duffer explained:

“This is where the business side comes in. When we started pitching it, it was like, ‘we don’t make money off of limited series.’ And I remember when we went into Netflix and we pitched this they were like ‘well, we like this but how could it keep going?’ And you’re just sort of riffing in the moment and we were like, ‘well, Will’s back from this other dimension and he’s not doing very well.’ And they were like ‘great!'”

Thank goodness for Netflix but, could Eleven’s death be the ultimate endgame for the entire series?  What do you think?  What are your thoughts regarding the fact that Stranger Things was originally meant to only be a one-season series and that Eleven was supposed to be killed at the end?  Sound off in the comment section below!

‘Stranger Things’ Creators Originally Planned to Kill Eleven in Season 1

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