Stranger Things Fans Question Holly Wheeler’s Surprising Spotlight
Stranger Things’ final season has sparked debate as viewers question the decision to give Holly Wheeler a central role, leaving the original cast in the background. The upcoming spinoff, however, will not feature her.
With the curtain now drawn on Stranger Things, the dust is settling and fans are picking apart the final series. While some are still mulling over the fate of Eleven and the mysteries left hanging, a different conversation has taken hold online. The focus? Holly Wheeler’s unexpectedly prominent role in the last run of episodes, which has left a fair few viewers scratching their heads.
One Reddit user summed up the mood, asking,
“Did you feel Holly really needed to be one of the main characters in the last season? Most of the screen time was usually taken by the OGs, which I always loved and wanted to watch. Did the shift from the older kids to now younger ones made sense to you or do you think show could've ended just fine with the same focus on the older cast?”
The thread quickly ballooned with responses, many echoing the sentiment that, while Nell Fisher’s performance as Holly was solid, her expanded presence felt a bit shoehorned in.
Fans Divided Over Character Focus
Some reckon the Duffer brothers were aiming to recapture the early days’ energy by introducing a new group of kids, but in doing so, they may have sidelined the familiar faces fans had grown attached to. As one commenter put it,
“I think the Duffers wanted to bring the S1 vibes with a new set of kids not realizing they just sidelined the main cast to tell this new story to connect the show as a whole.”
Others felt the narrative should have stuck closer to the established characters, particularly with unresolved storylines.
“The storyline should have been about El and/or Will contacting Max and helping her escape from Vecna's mind. Adding essentially two new mains to an already bloated cast was a mistake. No shade on the kids though, they did a great job,”
one fan argued. Another chimed in,
“Her entire storyline could've been just wrapped into Max finding her way from Vecna's mind and Holly could be totally removed from the storyline.”
Main Cast Left in the Shadows
For many, Max’s arc suffered most from the shift.
“Holly should have been a secondary character to Max. Holly should have had a smaller role compared to Max and the show should have explored more through the lens of Max,”
suggested a Redditor. The feeling that the main ensemble was pushed aside was a recurring theme.
“It came at the expense of our main cast,”
wrote another, describing Holly’s prominence as
“very odd.”
There was a sense of missed opportunity, with one fan lamenting,
“We could have had much more interactions between our main cast and given members of the main cast more to do. I don't think Steve and Eleven have ever properly interacted. Same with Eleven and Robin. Same with Nancy and Max. I would like to have seen Nancy and Lucas interact a bit more, and Nancy and Dustin as well.”
Even those who enjoyed Holly’s character felt her storyline was somewhat isolated.
“I actually like Holly. But the problem was it took away from the main characters in the final season. When we've seen newer characters before like Max and Billy they joined the main cast. But Holly's story was just her own with a bit of Max involved,”
another viewer observed.
No Spinoff for Holly
Despite speculation, Holly won’t be fronting her own spinoff. The Duffer brothers have confirmed that the next chapter in the Stranger Things universe will introduce a fresh cast and a new mythology. As Ross Duffer put it,
“It's obviously not Holly and the kids or anything like that. It's something much smaller than that.”
For those keen to revisit Hawkins, the entire series remains available to stream. Meanwhile, the debate over Holly’s role in the final season shows no sign of quietening down.