Stranger Things Cast Then vs. Now: What the Stars Looked Like in Season 1

Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo and the rest of the Stranger Things cast have evolved tremendously since the show began in 2016.

The once relatively unknown actors burst into the Hollywood industry full speed ahead after the drama’s massive success. “I don’t think Netflix thought it was going to be as huge as it became, but neither did we,” cocreator Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly in September 2017.

In fact, the Stranger Things fandom pushes those behind the scenes to elevate each new offering. “It’s definitely daunting,” director Shawn Levy said. “The love for this show is so rabid.”

Duffer added: “We want people to argue about what season is better. I want the debate. I want the Toy Story debate!”

Part of surprising viewers is keeping plot details securely under wraps — even when it comes to the cast. “I don’t know much about it because we get the scripts as we go along,” Finn Wolfhard told Us Weekly in August 2018.

Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in July 2016. The first season starred Brown (Eleven), Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers) and Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler).

Scroll to see how the Stranger Things cast transformed since the first season: