Fans of the returning character Eleven/El (Millie Bobby Brown) from "Stranger Things" will be comforted and shocked to hear that the character was originally intended to be killed in season 1 of the show.
It seems the Duffer brothers, the writers and showrunners of the sci-fi horror series, had no plans of including El in the recently released second season of the show on Netflix. The Duffer brothers revealed at a Master Class Q&A session at Chapman University that "Stranger Things" was just supposed to be a one-season show, where the ending was supposed to be El sacrificing herself to save her friends. At least, this was the original pitch that the brothers did to Netflix.
"Maybe I shouldn't say this because I like to pretend that it was all planned out, but it was originally pitched as a limited series. So it was like, Eleven was gonna sacrifice herself and save the world and then that was gonna be it, because there was a moment where limited series was a big deal," said Ross Duffer, meaning that El was supposed to die in the show's first season.
However, perhaps the show's and the character's immense popularity both compelled the brothers to bring her back, as well as make more seasons. Brown, the child actress for El, even won several awards including MTV's Best Actor in a Television Show.
Right now, "Stranger Things" is planned to last until season 4, and fans can expect to see El a lot more in the show along with her friends. Still, the original plan to kill off El was somewhat a powerful concept that the brothers may have wanted to use to provide a smoother narrative and plot twist for fans. El's apparent sacrifice at the end of season 1 to save her friends and the world from the Demogorgons was one of the most tragic climaxes of the show, with fans left wondering whether she had lived or not.
Rest assured, the Duffer brothers are in control of the show's creative process and hopefully plan to expand El's character in the future seasons.
