Stranger Things was originally going to kill off Eleven
Hawkins' resident psychic was supposed to fall victim to the Demogorgon at the end of season one
She may have kicked some serious Demogorgon butt in the drama’s second season, but Stranger Things’ Eleven was almost killed off by one of the monsters during the show's first run.
During a recent talk at Chapman University, showrunners the Duffer Brothers revealed that when Stranger Things was conceived as a one season limited series, Millie Bobby Brown’s character was going to be killed off as she saved the Hawkins kids from the Upside Down beast.
Ross Duffer explained: “Maybe I shouldn't say this because I like to pretend that it was all planned out, but [Stranger Things] was originally pitched as a limited series. So it was like, Eleven was gonna sacrifice herself and save the world and then that was gonna be it, because there was a moment where limited series were a big deal.”
However, Eleven lived to fight another season thanks to Netflix, who asked the brothers to create a long-running show. Ross recalled: "I remember when we went into Netflix and we pitched this they were like 'well, we like this but how could it keep going?' And you're just sort of riffing in the moment and we were like 'well Will's back from this other dimension and he's not doing very well.' And they were like 'great!'"
So, although it turned out Eleven was only briefly trapped in the Upside Down after her battle with the Demogorgon at the end of season one, it could have been much worse. However, does this mean that the Duffer brothers will want to see Eleven die during the show’s last ever episode? And could a character more significant than Barb or Bob meet their end during the show’s next season? #Pray4Steve
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Stranger Things season 2 is available to stream now on Netflix
