2016 → 2026 · Cast then & now
Stranger Things Cast: Then and Now
The cast then and now — with the original tribute song “Through the Upside Down”.
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The full premiere
Part 1 · Catwalk & Couples · Coming soon
Part 2 · Bench Reveal & Behind the Scenes · Coming soonThe reels · most watched first · 2
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About the series
Stranger Things, then & now
Stranger Things premiered in 2016, and ran for 5 seasons on Netflix. This page follows Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) then and now, with real ages, 12 then-vs-now collector’s cards in this tribute and the original tribute song “Through the Upside Down”.
The cast · 12 collector’s cards
Where is the Stranger Things cast now (2026)?
The Stranger Things cast then and now: 12 collector’s cards, 2016 vs 2026, with real ages. Tap a card to flip it and watch them walk side by side.
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“Through the Upside Down”
Bikes on the road under midnight skies
Read the lyrics
Bikes on the road under midnight skies
Four best friends chasing truth and lies
A town that hides what the dark has found
Secrets whisper in Hawkins town
Lights on the wall start to glow and shine
A mother calling through space and time
A girl with powers, a broken past
Trying to save the world at last
In shadows deep the monsters rise
But hope is burning in their eyes
Through the Upside Down we stand
Holding on with fearless hands
From the darkness we won't run
Together we fight until it's done
Through the storm and crimson sky
We won't let this world goodbye
Every battle we survive
Stranger things keep hope alive
Demogorgons crawl through the night
Heroes rising ready to fight
Love and friendship light the flame
Nothing will ever be the same
Through the Upside Down we stand
Side by side until the end
Every scar and every scar
Made us stronger than we are
Stranger things may come our way
But together we will stay
In the echoes of the past
Their story will forever last
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Stranger Things in numbers
The cast, then & now
| Character | Actor | Then (2016) | Now (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Wheeler | Finn Wolfhard | 13 | 23 |
| Eleven | Millie Bobby Brown | 12 | 22 |
| Dustin Henderson | Gaten Matarazzo | 13 | 24 |
| Lucas Sinclair | Caleb McLaughlin | 14 | 25 |
| Will Byers | Noah Schnapp | 11 | 22 |
| Nancy Wheeler | Natalia Dyer | 21 | 31 |
| Max Mayfield | Sadie Sink | 15 | 24 |
| Steve Harrington | Joe Keery | 24 | 34 |
| Jim Hopper | David Harbour | 41 | 51 |
| Joyce Byers | Winona Ryder | 44 | 55 |
| Jonathan Byers | Charlie Heaton | 22 | 32 |
| Vecna (Henry Creel) | Jamie Campbell Bower | 33 | 37 |
Ages from verified birth dates, updated 02 November 2026.
Stranger Things premiered on Netflix on July 15, 2016, with its first episode titled 'The Vanishing of Will Byers.'
Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer created, wrote and directed the show — their pitch was rejected more than a dozen times before Netflix said yes.
The series was filmed around Atlanta, Georgia: the Bellwood Quarry, Jackson's town square and Gwinnett Place Mall (as Starcourt) all stood in for Hawkins.
Joyce's alphabet Christmas-light wall from season 1, built to talk to Will through the Upside Down, became one of TV's most iconic sets.
The synth theme was composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of the band SURVIVE — it won them a 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music.
Season 4's finale 'The Piggyback' is the longest episode of the whole series at 2 hours 22 minutes, with more VFX than all of season 3 combined.
Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill', central to Max's season 4 arc, hit UK #1 in 2022 — 37 years after release, still a chart record.
Stranger Things has won 84 awards from 256 nominations worldwide, including Emmys, Grammy nods and a Peabody Award.
Season 4 became Netflix's most-watched English-language series ever, racking up 781 million hours viewed in its first 17 days.
An animated spin-off, 'Stranger Things: Tales from '85', premiered in April 2026 and got a second season on September 17, 2026 — a live-action spin-off is still in development.
The fifth and final season closed the story in three parts: Volume 1 on November 26, Volume 2 on December 25, and the series finale on December 31, 2025.
Season 5 opened to Netflix's biggest-ever premiere week for an English-language series, closing out the show as one of its most-watched seasons.