TV
‘Stranger Things’ Cast Preview Season 5: “We All Have the Same Objective”
In celebration of the “Stranger Things” Season 5 trailer, the cast spoke to Netflix about where we’ll find their characters at the start of the final season.
The series concludes on Netflix in three parts: four episodes on November 26, three episodes on December 25, and the finale — also in theaters — on December 31. Each volume releases at 5pm PT/8pm ET.
Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven):
“Eleven is in training mode. She’s in a warrior state, which is the first time you see Eleven like that at the beginning of a season. As for her mindset, all she is thinking about is protecting her friends. Her friends are her chosen family, so she will do whatever it takes to protect them and we’re going to see that.”
Finn Wolfhard (Mike):
“Mike is back in leadership mode, and he’s kind of taken it more upon himself to help plan out these missions, and he and the whole gang are devoted to finding Vecna and ending this.”
Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin):
“Dustin is kind of in a bit of a funk. I think everybody probably is, considering the state that Hawkins is in, and it’s getting a little bit harder for the gang to keep all the pieces together. We’re all dealing with the day-to-day issues of what it is to try to keep everybody safe and figure out where Vecna is, while having a lot of unpacked baggage from the events in the previous season.”
Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas):
“It’s always been in the beginning of a season that everything is all good, but this is the first season we come into it and the stakes are the same as where we left off. We haven’t defeated Vecna and the problem is still there. We’re still trying to figure it out and we may not be able to figure it out, so you feel that burden on Lucas as well as everyone else on the show. Everyone is on edge and we’re all just trying to keep hope alive.”
Noah Schnapp (Will):
“Will is back in Hawkins this season. He was out of Hawkins for the last season, so now we’re seeing the effects of him being back in that realm. We kind of hit the ground running right away this season, which is really exciting and not how we’ve started any other season. Everyone is all in one place and we all have the same objective.”
Sadie Sink (Max):
“We ended Season 4 in a tough place for Max. Her final moments were her in a hospital bed. Eleven was searching for her in the void and couldn’t find her, so Max is definitely not the way she once was. There’s still a small glimmer of hope, though, and her friends are hanging on to that.”
In the fall of 1987, Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.
Batman is an iconic superhero, but he’s also a lot more than that. He’s been a constant in pop culture and a figure who always leaves audiences hungry for more, despite everything that’s already been done with him. When Batman: Caped Crusader was first announced, it seemed like a true dream team of creatives, bringing together Bruce Timm from the foundational Batman: The Animated Series, Ed Brubaker from Gotham Central, and The Batman’s Matt Reeves.
Batman: Caped Crusader’s first season was an artistic masterstroke, albeit one that left some general audiences wanting more. Season two is a satisfying extension of its predecessor that also fills in some of its gaps and does even more with the series’ mission statement. It’s a soothing blend of Saturday Morning Cartoon nostalgia and hard-hitting supernatural detective noir that feels very much in line with Matt Reeves’ recent take on Gotham and Batman.
This season fully embraces the overall theme of duality and how not to let one side overpower the other. This may seem a little on-the-nose for a superhero series, let alone a take on Batman, but it fits well with the retro 1940s alternate Gotham City that’s been meticulously cultivated. Additionally, this season repeatedly explores codependency and the ability to put trust in others, whether it’s Nygma’s bond with Thorne, Bullock’s partnership with Flass, Renee’s ties with Barbara, or Bruce Wayne’s camaraderie with Alfred or even Carrie Kelley.
There’s also a lot to unpack on the subject of belief and faith, which informs this season’s storytelling in creative ways that also chip away at Batman – and Gotham’s – image. It’s one big sprawling crime saga in a hyper-stylized noir world where nobody is beyond betrayal or corruption if the price is right. This feeds into the season’s grander storyline where Rupert Thorne’s trial provides a strong introduction to this universe’s Eddie Nygma (Ronan Raftery). Thorne and Nygma are the season’s central antagonists as the latter takes advantage of the massive power vacuum that’s opened up after Thorne’s incarceration.
Batman: Caped Crusader has plenty to say about its heightened, masquerading criminals, but at the core of all this is Gotham’s internal corruption, and if it’s reached a point in which it’s too far gone to be saved, who is responsible for its desolation, and the people who want to take advantage of this vulnerability and own the city. Gotham, and its festering nature, becomes the true main character of Batman: Caped Crusader. Its ability for redemption or the possibility that it sinks deeper into the abyss are integral to each of these ten episodes.
This season adopts a propaganda angle that’s critical of the GCPD and Batman that feels particularly appropriate and timely. There’s a vilification of Batman and a compulsion to turn him into a dangerous vigilante who is feared, rather than the antidote to Gotham’s crime. It’s a take that’s been presented plenty of times before, but in this case there’s a sliver of truth to this budding Batman’s early crime-fighting efforts that helps it hit harder and connect. This also leads to one of the season’s strongest and most disturbing episodes in which Mad Monk (Blythe Melin) leads a team of Batman impostor acolytes who are determined to further tarnish the Dark Knight’s name.
These episodes are also having so much fun with the obscure corners of Batman history that it’s pulling from. There’s a great Matches Malone undercover episode where Bruce Wayne has to infiltrate a prison as an inmate in order to get intel. After the first season provided creative takes on many of Batman’s more noteworthy rogues, season two has the freedom to dig into considerably more fringe figures, such as Barbatos the Bat-God and Roxanne “Roxy Rockey” Sutton, a Bruce Timm and Paul Dini deep cut from 1994’s The Batman Adventures comics and The New Batman Adventures.
This season uniquely tackles Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, and Calendar Man. There’s also an extremely chilling version of the Joker whose presence heavily looms over the season’s events. Matthew Needham gives such an unusual interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime that’s borderline Shakespearean. It’s a really effective restrained subversion rather than some of the Joker’s broader and more jovially unhinged renditions. It feels more like Moriarty’s dynamic with Sherlock Holmes, if anything.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but Batman: Caped Crusader absolutely excels with its animation, art design – the lighting and shadows in particular – and the 1940s Art Deco aesthetic that permeates through every frame. Each episode features sublime action sequences, many of which showcase a shocking degree of vicious brutality and a hefty body count. This includes one of the most gruesome Christmas fatalities this side of Batman Returns.
Batman: Caped Crusader features some incredibly moving, thought-provoking storytelling that’s on par with some of the most memorable episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. In some ways, Batman: Caped Crusader is even better than its ‘90s counterpart because it’s been allowed to ground itself in time and grow up. Batman is one of DC’s most popular and reimagined characters, with even more iterations on the way.
Batman: Caped Crusader still makes a strong impression and shines brightly – like the Bat Signal on a dark night – to give fans hope and let them know that they’re in safe hands. This hopefully isn’t the end of Batman: Caped Crusader, but if it is, then it can rest easy knowing that it’s created such a special, passionate love letter to this iconic character.
Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on July 31.
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