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Hidden Stranger Things trailer detail reveals how show fixes actors being 'too old' to play teenagers

Home> Entertainment> Netflix

Published 14:18 17 Jul 2025 GMT+1

Hidden Stranger Things trailer detail reveals how show fixes actors being 'too old' to play teenagers

The trailer has a hidden detail that addresses the common criticism

Michael Slavin

Michael Slavin

Netflix have finally debuted the first trailer for the final season of Stranger Things, and a hidden detail in the release addressed concerns that the actors would be too told for their characters.

The Netflix series, which has run for nearly nine years now, is supposed to have taken place over the course of just three years.

When season four of the TV show released in 2022, the actors were in their late teens playing characters who were supposed to have only just made it to high school.

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This has been a common concern ahead of Netflix’s final season, along with worries that the new trailer spelled doom for major characters in the show.

Check out the Stranger Things season five trailer here:

The new season features a number of actors who, due to how long the show has taken to finish, are significantly older than their characters.

Joe Keery and Caleb McLaughlin are some of the most obvious, with Keery now 33 playing a character who was 18 in the last season of the show.

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McLaughlin is 23, the oldest of the gang of kids in the show, and was playing a 15-year-old Lucas in season four.

In the released details about the upcoming fifth season, however, was a hint as to how they will address this moving forward.

The show’s synopsis, released alongside the trailer, confirmed that the fifth and final season would be taking place in Fall of 1987.

Stranger Things season five will feature a major time jump (Netflix)
Stranger Things season five will feature a major time jump (Netflix)

This means that the show will be doing a time jump of almost a year and a half.

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Whilst this still makes the actors far older than the characters they are playing it explains away to a certain extent the actors sudden growth spurts more than if it continued right from the end of season four.

Ross Duffer, one of the co-creators of Stranger Things, had previously hinted that they may do a time jump during the press run for the show’s fourth season.

When asked about the difficulty of the ages of the actors, he said that they had wanted to film season four and five back to back but had been unable to due to scheduling troubles.

He went on to say: “I'm sure we will do a time jump.”

The actors in the show don't quite look like kids anymore (Netflix)
The actors in the show don't quite look like kids anymore (Netflix)

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As well as the show starting in Fall of 1987 there have been unconfirmed reports that the series may itself feature another year long time jump.

Regardless, it seems like The Duffer Brothers have made their best attempt to address concerns about the ages in the final season.

The show’s first trailer was incredibly well received, with 10 million views on Netflix’s YouTube page in just 24 hours.

One of the top comments on the trailer on YouTube said: “This is a perfect example of how you do a teaser trailer.

“You're not getting a synopsis of the the entire series. But it perfectly gives you a setting and a vibe that's a teaser.”

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Stranger Things season five releases its first set of episodes on Netflix November 26, with further episodes dropping on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Stranger Things, Netflix, TV, TV and Film

Michael Slavin
Michael Slavin

Michael Slavin is LADbible's dedicated specialist Film and TV writer. Following his completion of a Masters in International Journalism at Salford University, he began working for the Warrington Guardian as a reporter. Throughout this he did freelance work about Entertainment for publications such as DiscussingFilm, where he was the Film and TV editor. Now, he is LAD's go to voice on all things Netflix, True Crime, and UK TV, as well as interviewing huge global stars such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Daisy Ridley, and Ben Stiller.

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@michaelslavin98

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