‘Stranger Things’: The Duffer Brothers ‘Didn’t Want’ to Kill Bob Newby
Fans of the Netflix sci-fi thriller Stranger Things were ecstatic when Sean Astin of Goonies and Lord of the Rings fame joined the cast of the hit series. His character, Bob Newby, appeared in the second season. The nerdy Radio Shack manager, introduced as Joyce Byers’ (Winona Ryder) love interest, quickly became a fan favorite.
Unfortunately, the well-liked character didn’t last long before meeting his gruesome demise. Apparently, fans were not the only ones sad to see Bob go. Recently, the writers of Stranger Things proclaimed they “didn’t want” to kill the popular character. So what happened?
‘Stranger Things’ fans loved Bob
As the original founder of the Hawkins AV Club, Newby was lovingly referred to as “Bob the Brain.” He had a knack for solving puzzles and loved sharing his brain teasers with Will (Noah Schnapp). His character was light-hearted and preferred watching videos like Mr. Mom instead of horror movies.
Bob was devoted to Joyce and her sons and suggested they move out of Hawkins to get a fresh start. That never happened since the duo became obsessed with figuring out Will’s drawings and finding the Mind Flayer. The beloved character met his fate after being attacked by a pack of Demodogs, unleashed on him while attempting to rescue the others from Hawkins Lab.
A month after his unexpected death, Will drew a picture of “Bob Newby Superhero,” which still hangs on the family’s refrigerator.
What the Duffer Brothers said about the demise of Bob Newby
In a 2021 interview with Collider, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy revealed the beloved character originally had a “darker fate.” He was supposed to be killed off early on. Levy explained an early outline called for “Evil Will” to kill Bob in Episode 3 of the second season. When Bob is driving Will to school, offering advice about the Shadow Monster, “Will just straight-up murders Bob in that car.” Levy points out that this would have changed the trajectory of the storyline and robbed Bob of his superhero status.
The executive producer explained the Duffer Brothers decided to keep Astin around. “We wanted to keep him alive longer and then use his death as Joyce’s engine,” they shared. “The avenging of that would become Joyce’s engine for the finale.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, show creator Matt Duffer elaborated. “We kept postponing his death until eventually, we got to Episode 8 when it couldn’t be postponed anymore. I think it was still narratively the right thing to do but for me it was the hardest scene to write because I really didn’t want to do it but I felt it had to be done. Sean really didn’t want to leave the show either. So it was hard to part ways with him.”
Bob is just one of many beloved ‘Stranger Things’ characters to die
There have been plenty of deaths on Stranger Things, some more unexpected than others. While Hopper (David Harbour) has cheated death several times, there is no telling who will be safe in the final season of the long-running series.
Besides Bob, one of the most memorable deaths is Barb, which started a social media firestorm of #JusticeforBarb rallying cry. Then there was fan-favorite Alexei, who was unexpectedly killed off in season 3. Let’s not forget about Benny Hammond (Chris Sullivan), the diner owner, who took a gunshot to the head in season 1 for helping Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). In a show with this much death, its understandable the Duffer Brothers occasionally let a character live longer than they planned.
