Stranger Things writers deny editing past seasons

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The Netflix show’s writers say a season 1 Jonathan scene wasn’t edited

Jonathan in Stranger Things season 1
(Image credit: Netflix)

The Stranger Things writers' room has confirmed that no previous seasons of the hit Netflix series have been edited or cut. The news comes amid rumors that a scene from season one had been changed.

TVLine ran a speculative piece wondering if the Duffer Brothers had gone back and reworked a scene where Jonathan was spying on Nancy in season 1, episode 2, 'The Weirdo on Maple Street'. The episode featured the elder Byers brother looking for clues in the woods about Will’s disappearance when he spots Nancy changing in Steve’s bedroom. 

In a theory from a fan on TikTok, one viewer thought there was an original version of this scene where Jonathan actually took a picture of Nancy. However, the writers’ room has now debunked this with a statement on Twitter.

They wrote: "PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be." In a follow-up tweet, they even clarified that the Jonathan scene in question was the same as it had always been after a fan specifically asked about it.

Earlier today, British GQ ran an article titled, "Netflix retroactively editing Stranger Things is the beginning of a dangerous trend." Some hours later, the article was updated to include the following: “Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that a season one episode of Stranger Things had been edited retroactively to remove a shot of Jonathan photographing Nancy while she was changing.”

This prompted the Stranger Things Writers Room to post a second tweet, this time retweeting the British GQ article in direct response: "It's hilarious that an article bashing the show for retroactively editing a scene (based off a false TikTok rumor) has now had to retroactively edit their own article."

The initial speculation that previous episodes may have been edited came from the Duffer Brothers saying they sometimes "George Lucas" things in an interview, referring to the Star Wars director’s habit of re-editing his movies after their release.

"We have George Lucas’d things also that people don’t know about," Matt Duffer told Variety. They refused to name which moments but his brother, and co-creator, Ross Duffer then added: "You do have the physical copies though, the Blu-rays and stuff – you’d have to compare."

However, given the writers' room tweet, it seems they were speaking predominantly about some of the visual effects that they’d tightened up after the episodes were already out on Netflix.

Stranger Things season 5 has been announced as the show’s final season, and the Duffer Brothers teased they’ll begin writing it soon. We don’t know too much yet about what it will entail, but it will likely pick up after the dramatic season 4, volume 2 ending.

While you wait, check out our guide to the best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies to steam right now.

Fay Watson
Fay Watson
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

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