STRANGER THINGS IS BACK FOR 5TH & FINAL SEASON

Cast of supernatural smash-hit Netflix drama open up on show's impact and saying goodbye to their iconic roles

- BY LYNN RUSK

WHEN the supernatural coming-of-age drama Stranger Things premiered in 2016, it quickly became one of Netflix's most popular series, gaining millions of fans worldwide.

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, also known as the Duffer Brothers, the show was conceived as a love letter to classic 1980s genre films and is set in the seemingly ordinary US town of Hawkins, Indiana.

The first season follows a psychokinetic girl named Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, who escapes from a secret laboratory in Hawkins and befriends a group of boys: Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, played by Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin.

Together, they embark on a mission to find their missing friend Will Byers, portrayed by Noah Schnapp, after he vanishes into an alternate reality.

Almost a decade later, the show's fifth and final season is upon us, and the friendship group reunite again to confront the evil villain Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, one last time.

As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle looms and with it, a darkness more powerful and deadly than anything they have faced before.

To end this nightmare, they'll need the full party, standing together, one last time.

Wolfhard, Matarazzo, and McLaughlin, who were all just kids when the series began, have been reflecting on the impact the show has had on their lives and what it means to say goodbye to their characters.

McLaughlin, now 24, says: "Saying goodbye to Lucas is definitely a strange feeling. I had to put myself aside and really understand who Lucas was before I could express or vocalise who Caleb was. Learning to be honest about who Lucas was actually helped me understand myself.