Gaten Matarazzo says he didn't expect Dustin to die in Stranger Things finale

Movieweb reports Gaten Matarazzo said he did not expect his Stranger Things character Dustin to die in the series finale, telling Variety that although the cast "were all curious" and "open to the idea" of deaths, he didn’t think the Duffers had planned main-character fatalities.

Matarazzo noted Dustin had endured key threats earlier in the season, including being beaten by school bullies, but said much of the obsession over who would die was "more fan-pushed than anything." He added, "I could be wrong, but I don’t think the creative team ever really pushed that the main characters wouldn’t make it out alive," and called the show's focus on "persevering through unimaginable odds" a defining choice. He also said, "if one of us was dying, I feel like they would have told us before the writing process even started."

Now that Stranger Things has ended, the outlet says fans will have time to continue airing opinions and theories, and the Duffers face the task of following one of the most successful TV shows in history with spinoffs, a new cast, and new stories.

Key Topics

Culture, Gaten Matarazzo, Dustin, Stranger Things, Duffers, Eleven