Stranger Things Season 2: Everything We Know So Far

8. The Showrunners Took Inspiration From James Cameron

The first run of Stranger Things was structured to unfold like an eight-hour movie more than a TV show, and included a lot of cinematic nods towards the likes of Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and John Carpenter.

It's clear they're keeping that approach for the second season, which is even being largely promoted as Stranger Things 2 rather than Stranger Things Season 2, and to that end the showrunners are taking influence from someone who knows a thing or two about movie sequels, as Matt told EW:

"I know movie sequels get a lot of s**t, but the ones we look up to aspire to pivot and do something different. There’s Temple of Doom, Aliens, Terminator 2. I guess a lot of this is James Cameron. But he’s brilliant. And I think one of the reasons his sequels are as successful as they are is he makes them feel very different without losing what we loved about the original. So I think we kinda looked to him and what he does and tried to capture a little bit of the magic of his work.”

That also fits with the idea of things going bigger, a common statement for sequels, especially when it's a property where the first one exploded like Stranger Things did, and "darker", the obvious route for any sequel since the release of The Empire Strikes Back.