Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: stranger things, stranger things 5

Stranger Things 5 Director Frank Darabont on Series Inspiring Return

Frank Darabont on his love of the Netflix series being the reason he returned to direct Stranger Things 5 after an 11-year retirement.

In case you haven't heard, there's yet another huge reason to be excited about Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer's Stranger Things 5 – and it has to do with what's going on behind the camera. After having not directed a project since TNT's 2013 drama Mob City, filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) has come out of his 11-year retirement to helm two episodes of the fifth and final season. Why? Because he and his wife "really love this show."

"What really dragged me out of retirement was that my wife and I really love this show," Darabont shared with The Daily Beast regarding the streaming series phenomenon. "Our content now is so filled with horrible people doing horrible things for greedy reasons, but 'Stranger Things' has so much heart. That positivity is something I really responded to." In fact, Darabont is even keeping the door (slightly) open to the possibility of directing in the future – though there are no guarantees. "Who knows? I haven't missed the business, but I have missed being on set with creative people… It may well be one and done, but we've still got time," he added.

Stranger Things 5 "Like Season One on Steroids"

During an interview with The Guardian, Ross & Matt discuss the pressures of ending the series in a way that works creatively and satisfies the audience's expectations and how this final run with these characters will feel "like season one on steroids."

"The nine hours that precede the ending can be amazing. But if you stumble at that one-yard line, people will never forgive you for that. And they'll forget the previous nine hours of awesomeness! So it's amazing what they will forgive if you score a touchdown at the end," Matt Duffer explained when discussing their feelings on how series finales are viewed. "Endings of shows are like opening a restaurant in terms of the success-failure rate – there's an 80% failure rate, I'd say. But I think one very particular way to fail is to attempt to appease everybody."

Matt continued, "We have a huge variety of fans that span a huge age range, and I'm sure they have all their own ideas of how they want the show to end. But we're not consulting social media on this. Then you just hope and pray that it resonates. But it was funny: once we got there, it just felt right, and we're going to go for it!"

As the duo had stated previously, the universe will live on after Stranger Things 5 – but the characters that viewers have grown to love & connect with will see their stories end with the fifth season. With that much on the line, the Duffer Brothers aren't going out quietly. "This season – it's like season one on steroids. It's the biggest it's ever been in terms of scale, but it has been really fun, because everyone's back together in Hawkins: the boys and Eleven interacting more in line with how it was in season one. And, yes, there may be spin-offs, but the story of Eleven and Dustin and Lucas and Hopper, their stories are done here. That's it," Matt shared – before adding, "Outside of the play. So if you want to see more of some of them, go see the play."

And don't forget that Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, Alex Breaux and the amazing Linda Hamilton have joined the cast for the fifth and final season – here's a look back at the video announcing Hamilton's casting:

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