Stranger Things Season 5 Welcomes Oscar-Nominated Director Back from Retirement

One notable new face that fans won’t see in Stranger Things Season 5 is the esteemed Oscar-nominated director Frank Darabont, who briefly came out of retirement to direct a few episodes of the beloved series.

The highly anticipated fifth and final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things is currently halfway through filming, and fans can look forward to reuniting with cherished characters such as Max and Eleven in the near future.

Amid the production, behind-the-scenes leaks have surfaced, revealing insights about how Frank Darabont returned to direct for this season. In a recent interview with The Daily Beast for the 30th anniversary of his classic film The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont shared his motivation for working on Stranger Things: “What really dragged me out of retirement was that my wife and I really love this show. Our content now is so filled with horrible people doing horrible things for greedy reasons but Stranger Things has so much heart.”

Eleven and Hopper in Stranger Things. — Netflix

He elaborated, “That positivity is something I really responded to. I haven’t missed the business but I have missed being on set with creative people… It may well be one and done, but we’ve still got time.”

This marks Darabont’s return to the television directing scene for the first time since he created, wrote, and directed the neo-noir crime drama Mob City, which aired on TNT for one season from December 4 to December 18, 2013.

In addition to Mob City, Darabont has contributed to other acclaimed television series, including the first season of The Walking Dead, The Shield Season 6, and the pilot episode of Raines.

While it remains uncertain which specific episodes will be influenced by Darabont’s directorial touch, it’s typically the case that Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer helm the first and last episodes of each season.

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