The pressure is on for Stranger Things not to bow out similarly to how Game of Thrones did. That other television phenomenon that left so many on a disappointing note still stings, and there’s a common concern that Netflix’s almost decade-long hit could go the same way. Even with its issues, though, The Duffer Brothers have regularly referred to the hit HBO series like a rulebook of ice and fire in how they’ve handled the escalating events in every season of their show.
“In terms of television, we always looked to Game of Thrones and what [showrunners] Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff] did,” Matt Duffer told Variety. “They used the success to scale the show up and evolve it, and it snowballed. We would always take that example to Netflix for reasons why we should scale up the show: It’ll scale up the audience. At least, that was what we told them.”
Of course, television wasn’t the only reference they looked to in telling El’s story over the past five seasons. Creative masterminds like Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and other 80s legends were frequently looked to, along with era icons, making appearances. One director that the Duffers admired, however, was a filmmaker who experienced a similarly rocky start before their breakout projects, just like them.
“M. Night Shyamalan was a big influence. Like us, he had a movie that was a total dud, and then he did The Sixth Sense, which became this massive phenomenon,” explained Matt Duffer, referring to the 2015 film Hidden. “Yes, he continued to do some version of the twist thing, but I thought he took a lot of pretty exciting risks. He kept making original films. I don’t know if I was consciously thinking about it after Stranger Things, but he’s been such a big part of our life that I’m sure it was in there.”
We’ll see how things are handled when volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 arrives on Netflix on November 26. For a refresher on the show’s big bad, check out our guide on everything you need to know about Vecna.
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