Sorry, hundreds of thousands of fans who signed a petition for Netflix to release nonexistent footage cut from Stranger Things, that footage seemingly doesn’t exist, according to star Randy Havens. In the weeks since Season 5 of the series debuted, fans have expressed their frustrations about the series not living up to their expectations, resulting in some fans claiming they’ve been given unsubstantiated documents that detail all the scenes cut from these final episodes. Havens, who plays science teacher Mr. Clarke, took to Instagram to shoot down any such theories. In an Instagram story, per Entertainment Weekly, Havens shared the message:
“There’s no secret Snyder cut of the show. Please don’t believe everything some random ass tells you on the internet.”
The “Snyder Cut” in question refers to director Zack Snyder sharing details of his original version of Justice League that weren’t in the final product, resulting in fans campaigning for that original version to be released. What separates that cut of the movie from reports of excised sequences of Stranger Things is that Snyder himself confirmed that the theatrically released Justice League wasn’t his intended vision, whereas this recent petition has nothing to do with any remarks series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have made about an alternate cut of the final season.
‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Is Causing Divisive Reactions

Netflix

It’s difficult to specifically pinpoint what is going on in the Stranger Things fandom and why they are having such an unexpected reaction to these final episodes. Currently, the critical reactions to Stranger Things Season 5, which has one episode left, are calculated to be 84% positive on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Season 1 has 97% positive, with each season seeing a bit of a decline. Still, if 84% is your lowest-rated season, that’s still a strong showing. When the first four episodes of Season 5 aired, Episode 4, “Sorcerer,” became one of the top-rated chapters of the entire series on IMDb. Conversely, when the next three episodes premiered last week, Episode 7, “The Bridge,” became the lowest-rated on the platform. Fans are understandably passionate about the series, so it’s possible that hopes were a bit higher after the first four episodes were released that there was time for the storyline to pan out exactly as they wanted. Now, with only one episode left, the fans who feel doubtful about the storyline fully fitting within their expectations are realizing that fact and want to make their voices heard.

Whether it be Lost or Game of Thrones, it’s hard for any TV series with a passionate following to maintain its momentum throughout its entire run, so it’s not surprising that fans are losing faith in Stranger Things. What we currently know, however, is that reports of unseen footage are unsubstantiated, these rumors claim that cut footage included a romantic relationship between Will Byers and Mike Wheeler (a romance some fans have been hoping to see), and that petitions of these sort don’t have any impact, at least not until the Duffer brothers confirm they were forced to change their planned narrative by Netflix.

Stranger Things

Release Date

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network

Netflix

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock