The third season of Monster may currently be topping Netflix’s viewership rankings, but it won’t be much longer now before Stranger Things Season 5 completely takes over the Top 10 with its slate of feature-length episodes. Of course, that’s assuming the show continues to hold the attention of the millions-strong fanbase who turned it into a global phenomenon in the first place, which has arguably become more of a legitimate concern ahead of its split-up release, as many fans can’t get over the age disparity between the actors and their characters.
To be sure, audiences have been poking fun at Stranger Things cast members for years for rather quickly out-aging their on-screen personas, but the 3.5 years of waiting has only strengthened that argument going into the final stretch. For all that fans are eager to see how Hawkins survives Vecna’s wrath, it comes with the realization that a suspension of disbelief will be absolutely necessary. This X post, which references the bike-riding teens on Season 5’s first poster, represents that viewpoint quite expertly, leading to hundreds of likeminded comments.
I have to say, the whole 80s bicycle nostalgia aesthetic worked well when they were children, doesn’t quite hit the same now that they’re all 45.
It is a bit like if E.T. started filming in Summer 1981 but didn’t finish until Winter 1987, with the final film not explaining why Elliott is riding his bike in front of the moon when he’s old enough to have a driver’s permit. Or maybe it’s not like that at all.
E.T. certainly comes up quite a few times in the comments, as do a slew of TV shows from years past that also featured very obvious adults portraying teenagers. Check out some of the reactions below:
- You see in the 80s, in America, all adults rode bikes everywhere. Also the 80s lasted 15 years. – @Ian_Fisch
- Less convincing high school students than the cast of Riverdale – and that’s BAD. – @ChrisD_1999
- How do they age 30 years in 5 seasons? – @lelandcwilkins
- It started as a supernatural thriller, now it’s just 45-year-olds cosplaying puberty – @SCR01111
- biking up a hill like “damn my knees” – @LucaGuadagnegro
- It’s bad when they have to do CGI de-aging on 25yr olds. They should have ended this show 5 years ago. – @f_pitt2000
- Seriously they should’ve used an iconic car. – @Jackson_STwall
To be fair to the various co-stars, no one on the show playing a high schooler is actually 45, and these are the current ages of the actors, many of whom have had birthdays since the show wrapped production.
|
Finn Wolfhard |
22 |
|
Millie Bobby Brown |
21 |
|
Gaten Matarazzo |
23 |
|
Caleb McLaughlin |
23 |
|
Noah Schnapp |
21 |
|
Charlie Heaton |
31 |
|
Natalia Dyer |
30 |
|
Sadie Sink |
23 |
|
Joe Keery |
33 |
|
Maya Hawke |
27 |
It doesn’t seem like anyone on the cast was still a teenager when the last season filmed, save for Erica Sinclair portrayer Priah Ferguson, who is currently 19. Now that we have those factual details out of the way, let’s get back to poking fun at Mike, Will and the rest.
- It looks like they all have 401k’s – @AbelExfil
- It is kind of funny that the production of a show set in the 80’s has taken longer than the entire 80’s did. – @CroweLonginus
- Maybe the Season 5 premise is that they’re all nostalgic for Season 1. – @victorlams
- Right like not a single one of these mfers got a license? Lol I figured they would have their own ghost buster type car by now – @LiveEasy005
- the fact that they refused to give them adult size bicycles for this promo was the very first thing that jumped out of me. like for fuck’s sake – @Evathegoth
- all its not about the bikes but the ET child horror vibes for not children. While yes, adults play teenagers all the time, but its harder when they basically grew up on the show but didnt age as quickly on the show. It can create a sense of dysphoria – @fenixsoul22
That last point is probably closest to where I land on this issue. I’m old enough to have watched the onslaught of teen-centric comedies and dramas of the ’80s as it occurred, with full-ass adults taking on the younger roles. So that part doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that there haven’t been any suitable time gaps on the show that would help justify everyone looking as old as they are.
Like if the King of the Hill revival aged up its characters without shifting the story’s timeline forward, it would be baffling to see clearly older characters still behaving like they were previously. That probably matches up with reality more than I’d care to admit, but still.
In any case, let’s end things on another amusing and possibly inspirational note:
- Fuck Stranger Things, but nah, more adults should ride bikes. – @gutslutpress
Regardless of how old and decrepit these teenagers may look in Season 5, I cannot wait to see how the Duffer brothers deliver this final chapter, especially since their exclusive production deal with Paramount means they won’t be creatively steering any of the upcoming spinoffs that are hopefully still happening. They need to land this metaphorical plane in the most brilliant way possible, or else all these years of waiting will just cause fans to ignore all of their future projects in the works.
Find out how it all goes down when Stranger Things Season 5 Part 1 is available to stream via Netflix subscription on Thursday, November 27.