The production for Stranger Things Season 5 has finally begun, and the series has been dropping behind-the-scenes photos to give fans a glimpse of what’s happening behind the camera. However, in the one cast photo that Netflix shared, Eduardo Franco, who played the role of Argyle, is missing, and the actor himself confirmed he wouldn’t be returning in the final season.
In an interview with Steve Varley Show on YouTube, Franco was asked if he would return to Stranger Things Season 5 after his evident absence from the cast photo. Though the actor admitted he appreciated the gesture of someone showing concern about his return, he revealed that he never got a phone call to reprise his role.
“So, I think that’s it,” he said.
For starters, Argyle was first introduced in Stranger Things Season 4. He has become Jonathan’s (Charlie Heaton) friend after the latter moved to California and is also the delivery boy for Surfer Boy Pizza.
He even became a major part of the penultimate season after he rescued Jonathan, Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Agent Harmon (Ira Amyx) from the Byers’ house after the government agents’ attacked. Argyle also went to great lengths by helping his friends create a sensory deprivation tank for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) to fight Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and drive them to Hawkins.
Stranger Things Season 5 Production Officially Begins
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Stranger Things shared a cast photo to announce that the cameras had started rolling for the final season on Monday, January 8. “This is a code red,” its caption read. “Stranger Things 5 production has officially begun.”
Of course, the series’ major cast members, Brown, Schnapp, Wolfhard, Heaton, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, and Natalia Dyer, among others, are there. It also includes the series’ creators, the Duffer Brothers.
The Netflix series was supposed to start filming in May 2023, but the WGA strike began on the first week of the said month, putting several TV and movie productions at a standstill. Though scripts were already completed then, the Duffer Brothers postponed the filming due to the absence of the writers on set. But then, the SAG-AFTRA strike began in July 2023, further delaying the production.
What to Expect from Stranger Things Season 5
Stranger Things Season 5 will serve as the series' final outing after it premiered in 2016. In an interview with Variety, co-creator Ross Duffer revealed that the story’s last iteration would be an emotional arc for Will and would tie the series together.
He said:
Will really takes center stage again in [season] 5. This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So, part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality – it’s Will coming into his own as a young man.
The writing team also described the fifth season as the “baby” of Seasons 1-4. However, that child was like being “injected with steroids.” So far, Netflix has yet to announce when Stranger Things Season 5 will be released.
Argyle was a welcome addition to the series when he was introduced in the fourth season, just like Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson. Sadly, his comedic relief and stoner vibes will no longer be part of Stranger Things Season 5.
