The Stranger Things casting team clearly knows what theyre doing—and their dedication to bringing together every icon from beloved franchises from the 80s and 90s under one series banner could put many collectors to shame. On Wednesday, Netflix announced that two more well-known faces will join the paranormal dramas roster: Cary Elwes, known forever to many as Westley from The Princess Bride, and Jake Busey, a.k.a. Ace Levy from Starship Troopers.
Per Variety, Elwes will play Mayor Kline, whom Netflix describes as “handsome, slick, and sleazy . . . Your classic 80s politician—more concerned with his own image than with the people of the small town he governs.” As for Busey, hell play a character named Bruce—“a journalist for The Hawkins Post, with questionable morals and a sick sense of humor.”
In Season 2, Stranger Things strengthened its ties to the 80s—already strong thanks to its premise and star Winona Ryder—by casting the Goonies-star-turned-hobbit Sean Astin, who played Bob Newby. As the drama preps for its third season, its also cast Maya Hawke as “alternative girl” Robin, who is “equal parts sharp and playful. Bored with her mundane day job, she just wants a little excitement in her life . . . and gets more than she bargained for when she uncovers a dark secret in Hawkins.” (Hawke is also the daughter of two icons, albeit ones who were bigger in the 90s than the 80s: Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.) Priah Ferguson, whose performance as Lucass little sister, Erica, was a highlight of Stranger Things 2, has also been promoted from guest star to recurring—and shell return with an “army of friends.”
Little is known about whats to come in Stranger Things third season plot-wise, but its clear Erica and her friends will have an adventure of their own: as Deadline reported last month, “No longer content with sitting on the sidelines, Erica finds herself on a wild mission to save Hawkins from a dangerous and unexpected new threat.” Heres hoping someone gives her and her friends their own radios—because if shes going to be that busy, stealing her older brothers wont do.
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Westworld (Season 2)
HBO is once again hoping youll ignore the big Game of Thrones-shaped hole in its schedule and turn your attention back to the sci-fi mind game that is Westworld. The Emmy-nominated series, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Thandie Newton, is ready to confound you once again in its second season. Until its spring 2018 premiere, take a trip back in time and revisit nine burning questions we still have about the finale.Photo: By John P. Johnson/HBO.
Grown-ish
Yara Shahidi takes the lead in this youthful Black-ish spin-off set to air on Freeform starting Jan. 3, 2018. In this series, Zoey is finally off to college, stumbling through cringeworthy rites of passage like embarrassing herself at a frat party and hiding secrets from her parents.Photo: By Eric Liebowitz/Freeform.
Tis the season to watch a bunch of perfect human specimens fight for tiny gold medallions. This years Winter Olympics will kick off on Feb. 9, 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.Photo: By Julian Finney/Getty Images.
The Chi
After breaking out on Master of None and winning a historic Emmy for one of this years best TV episodes, Lena Waithe is ready to claim her spot in the prestige-TV realm. Enter The Chi, her Showtime series about young people coming of age in Chicago, set to premiere on Jan. 7.Photo: By Matt Dinerstein/SHOWTIME.
A Wrinkle in Time
The classic Madeleine LEngle tale is finally coming to the big screen on March 9, 2018, thanks to Disney and director Ava DuVernay. The sci-fi story about a girl tesseracting her way through time to find her missing father will star newcomer Storm Reid alongside stars like Oprah Winfrey,Mindy Kaling,Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine.Photo: By Atsushi Nishijima/Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
After some catastrophic ups and downs, Han Solos origin story will finally be revealed to us on May 25, 2018. The Star Wars spin-off stars Alden Ehrenreich as the galactic smuggler and also features Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke playing a mysterious character named Kira.Photo: From Lucasfilm Ltd./Everett Collection.PreviousNext
Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.