Anthony Mackie’s Bold Claim: Stranger Things Owes Everything to The Goonies

Back in 2017, Anthony Mackie made a remark that raised more than a few eyebrows. During a panel at MCM London Comic-Con, he mused on the state of modern cinema, lamenting the shift in focus towards younger audiences and international markets. In his view, the age of the film star had been eclipsed by the rise of the superhero genre. He quipped,

The evolution of the superhero has meant the death of the movie star.

Mackie went on to suggest that many beloved classics from decades past would struggle to find a place in today’s industry, which, as he put it, now caters largely to “16-year-olds and China.”

It was at this point that Mackie drew a direct line between the Netflix phenomenon and a certain 1980s adventure. He argued,

Think of some of your favourite movies growing up, those movies wouldn’t get made today. [‘Goonies’] wouldn’t get made today…‘Stranger Things’ is ‘Goonies’… Three kids, go on a mission, find underground, there’s an alien, kill the alien. ‘Goonies’. Even when they found the little dark world where the alien was, they went down the slide…‘Goonies’.

At first glance, the comparison might seem a bit of a stretch. Yet, the more one considers it, the more the parallels begin to stack up.

Echoes of the Eighties: Stranger Things and Its Cinematic Roots

Inspiration, as it happens, is rarely straightforward. The Duffer Brothers, creators of the Netflix series, have never hidden their affection for the pop culture of the 1980s. Their show is peppered with nods to the era’s iconic films, and Richard Donner’s adventure comedy is certainly among them. The Goonies, released in 1985, was based on a story by Steven Spielberg, whose fingerprints are all over the decade’s most memorable tales of childhood escapades.

Spielberg himself has commented on the challenge of originality in storytelling, noting,

It’s hard to come up with an original story. I think we’re all influenced by the stories that came before us…The worst films just refer to other movies. The best films connect you to something that you’ve actually experienced. ‘Stranger Things’ has done that very well.

The similarities between the two works are hard to ignore. Both centre on a group of children who, faced with extraordinary circumstances, take matters into their own hands. The stakes may differ—one group hunts for pirate treasure, the other battles supernatural forces—but the spirit of camaraderie and adventure is unmistakable.

Character Parallels and Subtle Homages

It’s not just the broad strokes that align. The characters themselves seem to echo one another. Mikey, Chunk, Mouth, and Data from the 1985 film bear more than a passing resemblance to Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will from the Netflix series. Even the names of the group leaders—Sean Astin’s Mikey and Finn Wolfhard’s Mike—invite comparison. Both step up as the driving force behind their friends’ exploits.

References to the earlier film are scattered throughout the streaming hit, from musical cues to visual motifs. The show’s creators have woven these tributes into the fabric of their story, rewarding attentive viewers with a sense of nostalgia. The influence is subtle at times, but unmistakable for those in the know.

Costume Choices: A Nod to the Past

One of the more unexpected connections comes in the form of wardrobe. For the fifth series, costume designer Amy Parris revealed that Eleven’s look drew inspiration from Josh Brolin’s character in the 1985 adventure, as well as from Punky Brewster. She explained that the outfit was

a mix of Josh Brolin from ‘The Goonies’ and then Punky Brewster [Soleil Moon Frye], with her mish mash of cut up clothes that she just kind of grabbed as she went.

Parris also mentioned that she pored over yearbook photos to capture the authentic feel of the era, rather than relying solely on cinematic references.

Fans were quick to spot the homage, with social media lighting up as viewers recognised the familiar style. The reaction was exactly what the design team had hoped for—proof, perhaps, that Mackie’s observation was not as far-fetched as it first appeared.

Both series are available to stream, offering audiences the chance to spot even more connections for themselves.