Credit: NetflixA wild new report claims that one of Stranger Things‘ young stars has come out as trans, and the delays behind Season 5 have been caused by a rewrite around that life change are being widely called out.
Stranger Things Season 5 is one of the most hotly anticipated television events in recent memory. The final batch of eight, apparently super-long episodes (according to Maya Hawke and Paul Reiser, anyway) of the hit Netflix series was announced all the way back in 2022, after the powers that be managed to convince the Duffer Brothers to extend their show past a fourth season.
Since then, it seems there have been nothing but delays behind the conclusion of one of the most-watched supernatural dramas ever.
Related: ’Stranger Things’ Cast Confirms TV Show is Scrapped, “It’s Heartbreaking”
Season 5 was delayed at least at first due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which shut down virtually every major Hollywood film and TV production while studio heads like Bob Iger and David Zaslav called strikers “unrealistic.”
Since then, it appears that the busy schedules of emerging stars like Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard have slowed things down, and there is no indication of whether Netflix will be able to release the final season even by 2025.
However, the shroud of secrecy surrounding Stranger Things Season 5 has now created rumors about why it is taking so long. The latest is that Gaten Matarazzo, one of the original group of Season 1 child stars that includes Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Millie Bobby Brown, has transitioned and that the final season was rewritten around that event.
The rumor appears to derive from a Facebook post by a group called The Critical Drinker, which claims that:
“Netflix reveals reason for delays in filming of Stranger Things 5.”
“As many know, actress Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, has become trans in the last year. And the writers had to redraw the entire Season 5 script to incorporate Dustin’s transition into the plot.
“It has not yet been revealed what this change will be, but Netflix and the authors said it will be something beautiful and respectful.”
Related: ‘Stranger Things’: Beloved Actor Comments on Eddie Munson’s Surprising Season 5 Return
The post also included images of the actress Milly Shapiro, best known for the horror film Hereditary (2018) and for being the youngest Tony Award winner in history for her performance in Matilda. Needless to say, the images are not of Gaten Matarazzo, who portrays Dustin Henderson on Netflix and recently completed a Broadway run of Sweeney Todd in New York.
The post does not cite any sources or direct announcements from either Gaten Matarazzo or Netflix and is unquestionably false. However, that did not stop it from receiving comments from several hundred social media users, ranging from “…seriously? this is the first I’m hearing of this” to people calling it out as fake news to uglier, more prejudiced comments.
Stranger Things Season 5 does not yet have a release date.
Why do you think the final season of the show is taking so long? Tell us below!