The last season of Stranger Things is taking a break, and as the main actors are growing up, the show’s producer Shawn Levy doesn’t think they’ll have to use special effects to make them look younger. Levy, who also directed important episodes in Season 4, mentioned that they’ll try to hide the kids’ aging, as it has been a while since the last season was filmed. However, in an interview with Deadline, he explained that he didn’t mean they would use computer-generated tricks to do that.
When they asked him if they’d use AI to make the kids appear younger, he firmly said, “No.” He was a bit surprised that a single statement he made on this topic got so much attention. He wants to make it clear that they have things under control on the show. The actors are excellent, and the characters created by the Duffer brothers are so well-defined. He’s not concerned about the cast coming back and portraying these characters again.
Stranger Things Season 5 faced a delay in May due to a writers’ strike, making it the second season to experience significant delays. The fourth season was also halted for several months in 2020 because of the pandemic.
It’s been three years since they started filming Stranger Things Season 4 in October. The final season’s production schedule is uncertain, as it’s still on hold while SAG-AFTRA works on resolving its own 111-day strike.
Even when the strike ends, it might take some time to restart production. Shawn Levy mentioned that the whole team is eager to get back to work.
“It’s important to remember that we, the creators of the show, are also fans of it. Rest assured, we want to end it on a high note,” he emphasized.
Once the actors’ strike ends, Shawn Levy will be busy with both Stranger Things and Deadpool 3. The latter was midway through production when things stopped in July. Despite trying to plan, he pointed out that there’s still a lot of uncertainty.
“I’ve seen many production schedules, but they keep getting thrown away because we’re all guessing when our industry will get back to work,” he explained. “I’m committed to giving my all to these projects that mean a lot to me; I won’t do anything half-heartedly.”
Source: Deadline