Stranger Things Steals Its End from Events at Harrison Ford’s House

By Chris Snellgrove | Published 33 seconds ago

The last scene of the Stranger Things (and beware of spoilers if you haven’t watched this Netflix series that stops the show taking its final bow) it’s so bittersweet: our familiar heroes play the final game Pits & Dragons before the minor characters embark on their own epic quest. Because D&D has played such a big role in the show since the first episode, you might think that this final scene was included just to bring the series full circle.

However, in a recent interview, the Duffer Brothers revealed that the final scene was also an homage to the original ending. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Stranger Things Stole Its End From ET

In a recent interview with Variety, the Duffers were asked how far into planning the final scene is Stranger Thingsincluding groups of different characters sitting down to play Pits & Dragons. Matt Duffer said they wanted to show Mike both literally and figuratively “successfully closing the door on childhood” and that they were a little motivated to introduce Holly and Derek into the mix so the show could “pass the torch.” Then he said something shocking: “I also like the idea of ​​its original conclusion.” ET they’ll be the ones playing D&D again…I like the idea of ​​doing that.”

What is this Stranger Things what are you talking about? Even the most part-time of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial fans know that this Steven Spielberg film ends with a thrilling moment when the titular alien says goodbye to his newfound friends and blasts off back into space. So, where does D&D fit into one of the greatest ’80s movies ever made?

Pits and Dragons in Harrison Ford’s House

In a 2017 interview with Yahoo!, Robert MacNaughton (who played Elliot’s brother, Michael) revealed how important Pits & Dragons was the production ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. According to him, the audition process for Spielberg’s film included playing D&D with other prospective actors in Harrison Ford’s house.

What were they playing with? Pits & Dragons home of the guy who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones? At the time, Ford was dating Melissa Mathison, who wrote the script ET. In addition, the Ford children, Ben and Willard, were big fans of the legendary RPG, so Spielberg requested that his future child actors play D&D with the Ford children as part of the audition process.

According to Robert MacNaughton, Spielberg had originally planned to include a live-action cast Pits & Dragons in the last scene of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. The scene would show that Elliot was the Game Master and that he was accepted into the group because he was the one who found ET Speaking of the little boy, this last scene would show the contact on the roof still working, proving that Elliott was still communicating with the little man, who is not green.

As for why this scene didn’t stay in the movie, MacNaughton said “after they got the score, the music, and they saw what they had when the spaceship took off and everything—how can you follow that?” He called the decision a “smart decision” but included another wild story: when the producers sent a script to the creator Pits & Dragonshe forbade them to include the name of the game because he thought the characters were using the RPG to gamble (actually, they just had money on the table to pay for the pizza). The actor thought this was a “costly mistake” because Gygax “could have had all that high ET marketing.”

These days, Pits & Dragons it’s a cultured thing, and that’s thanks in large part to high-level marketing Stranger Things. One of the reasons the Duffers put D&D in the final scene of their hit show was to honor the original ending of ET that didn’t even make it to the screen. That leaves us with a shocking conclusion: if only Star Wars icon Harrison Ford’s children were adults. Pits & Dragons Nerds, the end for Stranger Things they may be completely different!