While Netflix subscribers have had a difficult time waiting through its long hiatus, Stranger Things 2 (as the Duffer Brothers are calling it) will arrive just in time for Halloween this week, syncing up with Halloween at Hawkins, Indiana. Early images and footage of Season 2 show the group of boys wearing matching Ghostbusters outfits, but how exactly did Stranger Things get the rights to the costumes? It turns out they had to ask permission from Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman, and Aykroyd recently told us how it all came to be.
Well they are just such fans of the Ghostbusters in the show, and it fits perfectly for the timeline of their show. So I believe it was really just a result of how they had linked up our movie with the second season. It just seemed to be a fantastic tie-in and a beautiful nostalgic tie-in as well. So the guys in Stranger Things, essentially they are the Ghostbusters in elementary school.
CinemaBlend's Conner Schwerdtfeger recently had the chance to speak with Dan Aykroyd at a Stranger Things/Ghostbusters event to advertise new Stranger Things Rebooks ahead of the show's second season. That's when Aykroyd revealed how Ghostbusters managed to make its way into the Stranger Things 2-- by simply asking the right people. While this may have been a fool's errand in the show's first season, it should come to no surprise that Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman approved the request for Season 2. Stranger Things is massively popular and accrued a ton of Emmy nominations this year, so its a win win to get the Ghostbusters brand involved.
But Ghostbusters isn't the only classic spooky brand that's going to be represented in Stranger Things' sophomore season on Netflix. In a sneak peek from the season premiere, we see that new character Max is wearing a Michael Meyers mask as her Halloween costume. One has to wonder if The Duffer Brothers had to ask John Carpenter for special permission to use Michael's likeness as well.
With the Ghostbusters iconography included in Stranger Things 2, could Dan Aykroyd end up with a cameo in the series? They could easily have the kids watching the film, therefore allowing Aykroyd to have a less obvious role in the series. Here's what Aykroyd told us about that possibility:
I don't think so. Don't think so. Anything's possible, but I don't think they need me, or any Ghostbusters from the movie. They're doing really really well with their stories and they're beautifully shot, beautifully written, and i've been enjoying. In my research on this, I had to watch many of them and I've been enjoying my research.
While many actors would kill for a chance to join the cast of Stranger Things, Dan Aykroyd thinks the show doesn't need the gimmick of a celeb cameo. The narrative stands on its own two feet, and having Aykroyd randomly show up might take the audience out of the moment.
Stranger Things 2 will arrive tomorrow, October 27th. In the meantime, check out our fall premiere list to plan your next binge watch.
