Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo has revealed the one change he would make to the show is to increase its kill count, giving the impression that someone from the core group of kids could "kick it" at any given time.
Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson in the Duffer Brothers' sci-fi series, joined Finn Wolfhard, aka Mike Wheeler from Stranger Things, and Grace Van Dien, Season 4's Chrissy Cunningham, for a panel at MegaCon Orlando this past weekend and his curiosity door was all the way open as he answered numerous questions from fans.
As reported by CBR, one person probed the cast on what changes they would make to the show if they had the power. For Matarazzo, it was a matter of life and death (literally) as he expressed a desire for the writing team to kill off more characters in an effort to raise the stakes and make the outlook more bleak for the Hawkins crew.
"It might sound messed up, but we should kill more people," Matarazzo asserted in response. "This show would be so much better if the stakes were much higher, like, at any moment, any of these kids can kick it. I feel like we're all too safe."
Stranger Things has been no stranger to killing off its characters, but with the death of Joseph Quinn's Eddie Munson and the brutalization of Sadie Sink's Max Mayfield, the losses hit especially hard last season. It's unknown who will make it out alive in the show's fifth and final outing, but there are already some fan theories.
Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve), Maya Hawke (Robin), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Priah Ferguson (Erica) and Brett Gelman (Murray) all survived the hyper-packed season four finale along with Matarazzo and will return for the next chapter, unlike Eduardo Franco who "never got a phone call" about bringing Argyle back.
The first episode of the final installment is called "Chapter One: The Crawl," and will release on Netflix alongside all (or at least most) of the other episodes on the same day. It's also pegged to be a shorter season than the last, with a "Return of the King-ish" ending that David Harbour has warned is "very, very moving."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
