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New Details On Sean Astin’s Stranger Things Character Revealed

Without a doubt, one of the biggest hits last year, in any medium, was Stranger Things. Netflix’s sci-fi/horror series came from seemingly nowhere and took the world by storm, hooking viewers almost instantly with its gripping and intriguing mysteries and likeable characters. Not to mention all the nods and references it made towards classic ’80s properties. As such, it was no surprise when a second season was announced for October of this year.

Without a doubt, one of the biggest hits last year, in any medium, was Stranger Things. Netflix’s sci-fi/horror series came from seemingly nowhere and took the world by storm, hooking viewers almost instantly with its gripping and intriguing mysteries and likeable characters. Not to mention all the nods and references it made towards classic ’80s properties. As such, it was no surprise when a second season was announced for October of this year.

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Pegged for a Halloween premiere on Netflix, word is that the show’s next outing is more horror-oriented than the first, while composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein have been busy teasing an extended stint in the Upside Down – presumably to rescue Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, Eggos and all. But for all of the Stranger Things coverage currently littering the Internet, there are precious few details out there regarding the actual story arc of season 2.

That’s not too surprising, either, as apparently, the show is taking a page out of the Game of Thrones playbook when it comes to keeping plot details under wraps. And while they have been doing a pretty good job of preventing stuff from leaking, the cast and crew have now begun to open up a bit on what to expect. Or at least, they’ve begun to open up as much as they possibly can when it comes to a show as shrouded in secrecy as Stranger Things is.

It’s been known for a while now that The Goonies and Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin will be joining the series for season 2, but at the time of his casting, details on who he’ll be playing were slim, with Netflix telling us only that the actor will portray Bob Newby, “a kindhearted former nerd who went to high school with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) and now manages the local Hawkins RadioShack.”

That’s not much to go on, but thanks to a recent interview that the Duffers did with Variety, we’ve now got a lot more information about Astin’s character. Speaking on the Remote Controlled podcast, here’s what they said:

“He’s a manager at Radioshack, and he’s dating Joyce. He’s a sweet guy. I think Sean, more than anyone else that came in this season, completely shaped this character. It was probably, on the page, the least interesting, and not specifically meant to be as important of a role as it ended up being. What he brought to the performance completely elevated it and inspired us as we wrote. We were able to evolve his character as we we went along, and he just ended up being so great.”

When asked why they chose Astin to play Joyce’s love interest, the Duffers explained:

“Sean just surprised us. We had a different image for that character he’s playing. The Bob character. Somehow our casting director turned us onto this idea of Sean and then suddenly the character became so much more interesting to us. He just blew everybody away. We’re just so excited for everyone to see him in this.”

Already there’s been speculation that Astin’s character is not exactly who he says he is and there might be more to him than meets the eye. After all, this is Stranger Things we’re talking about, so to see him be revealed as some sort of villain wouldn’t be all that surprising. Whether that turns out to be the case or not obviously remains to be seen, but either way, Astin’s involvement in season 2 can only be a good thing and we’re excited to learn more about his Bob Newby when the show returns to Netflix this October.