**Spoilers ahead**
If the first season of “Stranger Things” wore its influences on its sleeve, “Stranger Things 2” puts them on like a suit, making no apologies for acknowledging its forebears. However, not everything about the series is informed by the ’80s, as the Duffer Brothers reveal how one very contemporary superhero movie inspired a scene in the debut second season episode, “Madmax.”
The episode opens on 008 aka Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) rolling around Pittsburgh with her punk friends, until a violent act leads to a pursuit by the cops. Why did the brothers choose to start the season this way?
“It’s this idea of starting to expand the world, starting to introduce some new tones that we were excited about. That was really what it is, and just to start [the season] off with a bang. And honestly, being super-childish, Matt and I have just always wanted to do a car chase, so that was the impetus, just to do a car chase. It was very fun to shoot,” Ross Duffer told Vulture.
The chase ends as Kali and her pals pull into a tunnel, and using her gifts, makes it appear like it collapses behind them. It throws the cops off their tail, and it’s a blockbuster-y moment that has some interesting roots.
“We did [shoot the scene in Atlanta], and then the [Pittsburgh] skyline we added. Instead of [Kali] manipulating this tunnel, it used to be that she was manipulating a bridge. We were going to have this really spectacular bridge sequence, and there’s a lot of really great bridges in Pittsburgh. That’s I think ultimately why we chose it, but you just cannot find a bridge anywhere even near Atlanta,” Matt Duffer explained. “You actually can’t even find a tunnel. That tunnel was actually about 20 feet long. It was ridiculous. It was the tiniest, puniest tunnel, and we just ended up extending it with computer graphics.”
“We were definitely going for [a ‘Dark Knight‘ vibe]. Some of this stuff happens subconsciously, so I’m sure, yeah, we were ripping off Chris Nolan,” he continued. “Some of it was deliberately. We put on movie music when we write — I know I wrote that [scene] to ‘The Dark Knight’ score or ‘The Matrix,’ one or the other. But we love that kind of film, and we don’t usually get to explore that kind of vibe or tone on the show, so I think that’s really why we did it.”
Well, it certainly adds new texture to the show, as the Duffers seemed to use “Stranger Things 2” as opportunity to flex their muscles a bit. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.