Stranger Things creators are fixing a season 4 mistake – and reveal they have "George Lucas'd" things before
The Will Byers birthday mistake will be fixed, say the Duffer brothers
Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers have said they're going to fix a season 4 mistake that saw every character forget Will Byers' birthday. Midway through the new episodes, a calendar shows that it's March 22. While that may seem like an innocuous date, as viewers noted, March 22 is actually Will's birthday – and no one on the show, including Will, acknowledges that fact.
"It's too sad!" Matt Duffer told Variety. "And it doesn't make any narrative sense. But we were talking about it yesterday, and I think we're going to George Lucas that."
George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, famously altered scenes from the original Star Wars movie in their subsequent re-releases – adding new creatures and altering scenes, most famously the one where Han originally shot first. Lucas has continued to tinker with the Star Wars movies post-release, the most recent example being the addition of a random phrase: Greedo now shouts "maclunky" before his shootout with Han.
Duffer added, though did not expand on, his tantalizing next revelation: "We have George Lucas'd things also that people don't know about."
In an earlier interview with Variety, he suggested that the scene in which Winona Ryder's Joyce reveals her son's birthday will be digitally altered: "We're thinking his new birthday... is going to be May 22nd, because 'May' can fit in Winona's mouth. So that would be us George Lucas-ing the situation."
Ross Duffer also explained that some of Stranger Things season 4 part 1 has been altered post-release. "Some of the visual effects," he commented. "It's not, like, story, but you're essentially patching in shots. Netflix is – I don't think they've ever allowed people to patch on opening week and even weekend. And we said, 'Well, why not?' And he said, 'Well, it makes us nervous.' And we're like, 'Well, maybe we try it this time.' And it turned out fine."
Stranger Things season 4 part 2 arrives this July 1. While you wait, check out our roundup of the best Netflix shows streaming now to fill out your watchlist.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.