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Saturday, October 1, 2022

FanX 22: "Stranger Things" reunion panel highlights


Three stars of Netflix's ultra-popular show "Stranger Things" reunited at FanX 2022 for one of the biggest panels of the weekend. Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Eduardo Franco (Argyle) and Grace Van Dien (Chrissy) joined forces to tackle topics both actual and hypothetical, from what life has been like since joining the cast to who would die first in the event of an actual apocalypse.

Here are some of the highlights from one of the funniest panels of the weekend:

A fan asked Grace Van Dien if she is aware of the viral “Chrissy, Wake Up” songs.
Van Dien: Yes, I’ve heard all the “Chrissy” remixes. I think it's so cool. I think I’ll be singing “Chrissy, Wake Up” way past everybody else.

A fan asked Van Dien about her character's brief interactions with Vecna, resulting in this tweet that got a little love from Chrissy fans online:



A fan asked Eduardo Franco how he would want his character, Argyle, to die on the show. Franco then hilariously proceeded to demonstrate that he and Argyle are basically the exact same person.
Franco: Let’s see... How would I… It’s gotta be good, man. There’s so many deaths in movies that like, you know, I’ll watch and I’m like, “[Expletive], that’s a crazy-good one,” you know? Like Quint in “Jaws,” how he’s slowly… he’s kicking and he’s just like, “No! No! No! No! No!” – so bad – and that [expletive] is just doing this… [Franco pantomimes the scene, audience laughs] Something like that, or it could be like… I don’t know, man. It’d be something like that. Maybe some… what’s a good – yo! You know what’s a good death in a movie? [Audience laughs] Sorry. I don’t know if you guys were like this, but it’d be [expletive] amazing to do it again: the guy in “RoboCop” – the one that slams into the vat of chemicals, and he comes out yo! [Franco screeches, audience laughs] And then, and then – yo! And then Red Forman [actor Kurtwood Smith, who starred in “RoboCop” and played Red Forman on “That 70s Show”] drives right through him and he [expletive] explodes! That would be [expletive] crazy.


A fan asked who their favorite "Stranger Things" character is (but they couldn't choose their own character), as well as their least favorite character.

Matarazzo: There’s an answer, for sure. Who’s my favorite character? Can’t choose Dustin. You guys could choose Dustin – I’m just saying. I’m gonna pick… Steve. [Audience cheers wildly, Matarazzo laughs] That was like the State of the Union. It’s like, “YES!”

Franco, mockingly: Steve.

Matarazzo: I think my least favorite… That’s messed up. Least favorite? I don’t want to pick a bad guy because I think that those characters are awesome. Know what I mean? It’s not necessarily, like, your least favorite character is someone that does bad things on the show because that’s what make shows exciting. People are saying, “Vecna!” […] Vecna’s probably one of my favorite characters in the show’s history. So, I’m gonna pick… Oh, man!

Franco: You have to pick one.

Matarazzo: I’ve got to pick one? Who’s that “Argyle” dude? [Audience laughs]

Franco, dejectedly: My favorite character has always been Dustin. [Audience laughs] It’s ok. Never meet your heroes, guys.


Surprisingly, Van Dien would go on to say that Season 4 bully Jason gets an undeserved amount of hate - an answer which seemed to irritate the overwhelmingly anti-Jason audience.


Matarazzo was asked about filming Eddie’s Season 4 rock concert.

Matarazzo: Oh, it was a complete bop and a half. I just felt really bad because we were on top of this trailer in a real neighborhood, like in the middle of the night. Yeah, we filmed that and I was… and there was a scene after that where, uh, spoilers… Ah, this is actually… Who hasn’t seen Season 4? Why are you… Aww [incoherent mumbling] … Well, something bad happens. [Audience laughs] And I have to go to the bad thing that’s happening and I’m screaming a lot while doing it, and it’s like 4:30 in the morning. [The directors were] like, “Really scream!” Like, “Ok!” So I’m running and then we stop and do it over and over again, and I’m like, “This sucks!” Yeah, so I just felt… It was awesome and I just felt bad. That was pretty much it. That was crazy, though.


*****


There you have it! What were some of your favorite parts from Season 4 of "Stranger Things"? What are your predictions for Season 5? How do you think Argyle should die? Is it ok to put pineapple on pizza? Let us know in the comments section, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.

For more "Stranger Things" goodness, take a look back at our Season 4 Power Rankings!

And, as always, keep it right here with Signs of the Times for more glorious FanX panel transcriptions.

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