Recommendations of the Editorial team
The fifth season of the hit series “Stranger Things” premiered in Berlin on November 18th – and attracted fans of the mystery world to Tempelhof Airport. Hangar 7 in the south of the capital not only boasted a deceptively realistic experience of the fictional series location Hawkins, but also prominent guests: four protagonists of one of the most successful series in the history of Netflix arrived on site to the loud screams of their enthusiastic fans. Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin were greeted with cheers by lucky ticket winners and select guests.
“We became a family,” says Gaten Matarazzo
“When you’re part of something for so long, you become a family, and that’s just incredible,” Gaten Matarazzo, who plays protagonist Dustin Henderson, told Rolling Stone on the red carpet of the premiere. No wonder, after all, the first episodes of the series were published in 2016. Not only the fans, but also the actors have grown up with the story of mysterious superpowers, dangerous monsters, a mysterious shadow world and, above all, good friendship.
“Being a part of it was the greatest honor of my life. It also just means a certain stability. It’s always a very reassuring feeling to be able to return to the set,” says Matarazzo. “When you don’t know what’s coming next, you always look at it with optimism and approach it as enthusiastically as possible. But there’s always this little feeling in the back of your mind that a part of you wishes there was another episode. Even though it’s of course good that we’re coming to the end now,” says the 23-year-old from Connecticut.
This is what the premiere of “Stranger Things” was like
“All good things come to an end,” says Caleb McLaughlin
Caleb McLaughlin, who plays Henderson’s co-protagonist and childhood friend Lucas Sinclair in the series, sees it no differently. “I think this final chapter is a great conclusion to this book, and I’m ready to move on to the next one,” reflects McLaughlin. “I’ll be sad because it’s been a great journey. But all good things come to an end, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come. And I feel like I appreciate it even more because it’s coming to an end.”
The season starts at the end of November – the big finale on New Year’s Day
This is also the case with fans who are looking forward to the grand finale of the multi-billion dollar series, which begins on November 27th and ends on New Year’s Day. This means that both the adventure world at Tempelhof Airport, which recreates the mysterious shadow world “Upside Down” in the series, and the premiere of the first episode are packed with visitors.
A world of experience with attention to detail
In the dim light of the hall, which shimmers in the ghostly red of the series, selected buildings from the series town of Hawkins can be examined, just as the “Upside Down” of the series is framed by the tentacles of an invisible monster. In the style of the young protagonists, visitors can cycle through the fictional town on bicycles, past the radio station of the fictional Robin Buckley and the cursed forest of the demon Vecna. Figures of the monster Demogorgons, “missing” posters looking for superhero Elfie, and mirrored street signs are among the loving details. Even if your stomach is growling, you don’t have to look far: “Stranger Things” cakes are distributed as well as pizzas with toppings appropriate to the series.
But the visual highlight remains the season premiere itself: The opening episode of the fifth season, which fans watch in the cool silence of the aircraft hangar, causes loud clapping among the viewers – and the feeling of a terrible cliffhanger that will be bittersweet in your stomach until the second episode airs on November 25th.
Because for many fans, “Stranger Things” is so much more than just a story – the Duffer Brothers and their cast including Wolfhard, Schnapp, Matarazzo and McLaughlin have created a pop culture momentum for over ten years that has shaped an entire generation of series lovers. After all, the mystery saga is about more than just monsters and heroes – it’s, in McLaughlin’s words on that winter evening in Berlin, about “loyalty and love, and being there for a friend no matter what happens.”