Stranger Things spoof features Michael Caine and Joe Biden
Netflix Ahead of Stranger Things Day on November 6, 2023, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon created a spoof video of the upcoming Season 5 and its older cast – that didn’t sit well with fans.
Fans have had to wait for news of the final fifth installment of Stranger Things due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. A majority of the fifth season was already written, but due to the strikes, filming was put on hold.
David Harbor initially said they had aimed to start filming in the summer of 2023, but that hasn’t happened due to the continuing actor strike. And fans are worried as its main cast of actors will soon be well into their 20s and no longer the young teens like in the series.
Shawn Levy previously stated that they would do anything possible to de-age the actors and not make their aging so apparent in Stranger Things Season 5. Jimmy Fallon took the concept of the cast being much older for Season 5 and turned it into a joke – with a few fans calling him out.
Michale Caine makes an appearance as Mike for a Stranger Things spoof
In an interview with Deadline, Levy had to make clear that they would not use AI to de-age the cast. “The bottom line is, we know what we’re doing on this show. Our cast is brilliant. And these characters that the Duffers have created are so vivid. I’m not worried about everyone suiting back up and bringing them to life,” said the showrunner.
According to ScreenRant, Levy joked that “It’s killing us, because these f–king kids, they will not slow down the aging process.” Next year, Millie Bobby Brown will be 20 with Finn Wolfhard soon turning 21 in December. Caleb McLaughlin is now 22 and a majority of the cast are no longer in their teen years. Brown has openly expressed her desire to move on from Stranger Things, having been 12 when it first premiered.
On a recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he brought up Levy’s statement of not using AI to make the cast look closer in age to their on-screen counterparts. He joked that he’s not sure the actors could still pass as kids. Fallon then revealed a spoof trailer for Stranger Things Season 5.
The trailer had Michael Caine as Mike, Morgan Freeman as Lucas, Mitch McConnell as Dustin, Joe Biden as Will. It also had the Pelosis as Steve and Nancy. To top it off, Eleven was portrayed by Gloria Stuart, the actor who played the older version of Rose in Titanic. The spoof ended with the narrator saying, “Yeah, we should have used that de-aging thing.”
It’s safe to say that the spoof didn’t go over well with fans. They chastised the common misconception that actors in their 20s are now considered “old.”
“I wanna know who started this narrative that somehow the actors, who are barely 20, (mind you Millie isn’t even 20 yet) are deemed as ‘old’..” said one fan on X (Twitter).
Another agreed by saying, “Who gaf!! idk why people are acting like they’re geriatric when the actors are like 20 years old… ppl this age playing high schoolers is such a normal thing, especially with continued seasons of a show.”
“Other Netflix shows have 30-year-olds playing as teenagers. The ST cast are young in comparison,” said another.
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