‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Adds Huge ‘80s Stars to Cast; Director Teases Overall Plot Saying Kids will Struggle to Return to Normal Lives

‘Stranger Things’ season 2 will feature two new cast members known for their work on some of the ‘80s most iconic films. Meanwhile, director and executive producer Shawn Levy teased the overall plot of the incoming new season saying that the kids will struggle with returning to normal lives.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the newest additions to the ‘Stranger Things’ season 2 cast are two of the most recognizable faces from films that influenced the Duffer Brothers into creating the science-fiction and horror web series.

Sean Astin is set to play Bob Newby. His character is described as “a kindhearted former nerd who went to high school with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) and now manages the local Hawkins RadioShack.”

Astin is best known for playing Mikey Walsh in the 1985 adventure-comedy film ‘The Goonies.’ He also starred in the cult-favorite film trilogy ‘The Lord of the Rings’ as the hobbit Samwise Gamgee.

Joining Astin in the new cast is Paul Reiser, another actor well-known for his various films in the 1980s. He is set to play Dr. Owens. His character is described as “a high-ranking member within the Department of Energy on a ‘clean-up’ assignment, tasked with containing the events of last year.”

Reiser played the character named Carter Burke in the 1986 science-fiction horror and action film ‘Aliens’, which was directed by James Cameron. He also appeared on 1984’s ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and its 1987 sequel, 1990’s ‘Crazy People’, and 2014’s ‘Whiplash.’

Newcomer Linnea Berthelsen has also been cast to play a girl named Roman. She is described as “an emotionally damaged, magnetic young woman who suffered a great loss as a child. Although she does not live in Hawkins, she is mysteriously connected to the supernatural events at the lab.”

Returning for season 2 are original stars Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), and Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler). In addition to Astin, Reiser and Berthelsen, Dacre Montgomery and Sadie Sink have joined the cast to play siblings Billy and Max.

Meanwhile, director and executive producer Shawn Levy teased the overall plot of season 2 saying that most of it will deal with the children’s attempts at returning to normalcy. During an interview with Collider, Levy said, “Will Byers was in that Upside Down for a while. So Season 2 is about this determined desire to return to normalcy in Hawkins, in the Byers family, in that group of friends, and it’s the struggle to reclaim normalcy and maybe the impossibility of it.”

He also revealed that although the new season will feature more characters, the series will continue to put focus on the principal cast members. He said, “…there are several new characters who I think several of them are going to be new fan-favorites because they’re great, great new characters. But we are definitely sticking primarily with our core group, and what is different, how are they changed from the experience of last season… maybe ‘normal’ is never possible again.”

‘Stranger Things’ season 2 is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2017. The science-fiction and horror web television series was created and executive produced by Matt and Ross Duffer. Production for the incoming season has already begun despite not having an official release date yet.