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Dec 01, 2023

Stranger Things director says season 5 won't be like Game of Thrones

STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, David Harbour as Jim

STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Dan Trachtenberg is the director of Prey, Hulu’s 2022 prequel to Predator. The Predator franchise has produced some incredible movies over the years as well as some misfires. For my money, Prey stands head and shoulders above the rest. It also received widespread acclaim for its inclusion of Native American talent on both sides of the camera, as well as its accurate depiction of 18th century Comanche culture.

Given the film’s success, it’s no surprise that Trachtenberg was quickly snatched up for other gigs, including directing an episode in the hotly anticipated fifth and final season of Stranger Things. In a recent interview with Variety, Trachtenberg teased that Stranger Things season 5 will not go the route of Game of Thrones, instead promising “rock and roll throughout the entire season.”

STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson and Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Trachtenberg told Variety that he had already read his episode of Stranger Things 5, and that he “had been prepping the episode before the strike.” Production is currently on hold until after the Hollywood writer and actor strikes resolve.

“I can tell you that it’s awesome,” Trachtenberg teased. “I haven’t really done an episode of a TV show. I’ve stuck to doing pilots and movies, but Stranger Things is a laser into my heart. The Duffer Brothers are incredible, and we have so much in common. With this being the last season and hearing a little bit about what could be an episode I could do, I got excited.”

And then Trachtenberg seemed to fire some shots at Game of Thrones. “I don’t think Stranger Things falls into a category of television seasons like Game of Thrones where the pilot is cool, slows down, and the last two episodes are the big battle. I can tell you, and pointing to other seasons, there is rock and roll throughout the entire season.”

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO

Is he saying Game of Thrones didn’t have rock and roll all season long? That there were lulls and rough spots? That the show ended in a fiery blaze of mucked up storytelling?!

Not really. Several people pointed out this shade to me earlier today, and of course since we’re a Game of Thrones site we’re honor-bound to analyze it. I think we can safely say Trachtenberg isn’t dissing Thrones; he’s talking about the structure of its seasons, which tended to have solid season openers, followed by a build-up into huge penultimate episodes and finales. Game of Thrones stuck to that formula for practically its entire run.

Not so for Stranger Things. Just look at season 4, which had some of its biggest moments in its fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth episodes. It’s just a different sort of structure, and it’s good to hear that if it ain’t broke the Duffers ain’t trying to fix it in season 5.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 04: (L-R) Jhane Myers and Dan Trachtenberg attend the Prey Beyond Fest screening at Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California on August 04, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

With that out of the way, let me get back to gushing about Prey, which Trachtenberg and producer Jhane Myers also talked about quite a bit. Prey isn’t only a great Predator movie; it’s a great movie in general. It’s no surprise that it’s already racked up the most award nominations of any movie in the franchise, including an Emmy nomination for outstanding television movie. That one is especially historic, because it also makes Myers the first Indigenous woman to ever net a nomination at the Emmys as a producer.

“During the pandemic, I wasn’t working, and I was interviewing for jobs. The studio called and asked if I was interested [in Prey],” Myers recalled. “When they sent me the script, I was so excited. Because No. 1, I’m a Comanche and Blackfeet. To see something around our culture that is totally inclusive of our culture was amazing. When you read scripts like this, you’ll have a dash of native content. This was 100% through and through.”

Myers isn’t wrong; it’s rare to see a movie so thoroughly embrace Native authenticity the way Prey does. It’s the first film to feature a full-language dub in Comanche upon release (which is fantastic and very much worth experiencing). T authentic depiction of Comanche culture is central to the film.

“Those conversations were not hard,” Myers said of working on the film with Trachtenberg. “He was open. Plus, with Amber [Midthunder] being Native and most of our cast, it was organic. That’s what makes this film remarkable. I can tell you this: until this day, we’ve never argued.”

Myers also spoke a bit about the strikes, and her hopes that we’ll see more Native-helmed content on the other side of them…including a hint that there may be another Prey movie on the way:

In this situation, culture and diversity are the first to get cut. I’ve survived that before, back in 2009. We have so many native creatives, and everyone is using this time to finish the things they couldn’t because they were working. Hopefully, when the strike is over, everyone has new work to pitch, and it won’t be many years before we see another ‘Prey’ installment. My background is in documentaries. I have one meaningful one about a prolific person throughout the Native community. I can best describe him as the Nelson Mandela of the Americas.

The first Prey movie had a very complete ending, but it still left the door open for sequels. It’s exciting to hear Myers openly voice her hopes that we’ll get a follow-up, because man does that movie deserve one.

Perhaps a sequel would even give room for a cameo by stars from some of the other Predator films, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Glover? “I did learn there was an attempt to have Arnold in Predators (2010),” Trachtenberg mused. “All I’ll say is — there’s still time for those guys. They’re still around, and wouldn’t that be awesome?”

Yes, yes it would. Prey releases on Blu-ray and 4K UHD on October 3. You can also stream it now in both English and Comanche on Hulu.

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