Stranger Things season 5 is now spooling up in earnest in the new year, and in the wake of the SAG/WGA strikes that delayed its start. The final season of Stranger Things and Wednesday season 2 were said to be Netflix’s top two priorities when returning to production, and the cast recently shared a photo of them all getting back together to kick things off.
Well, almost all of the cast.
In something of a brutal banishing, actor Eduardo Franco, who played Argyle in season 4, was asked about why he wasn’t in said cast photo. The video of the encounter is a bummer, and it looks like this may have even been the first time Franco realized he was cut, but we can’t be sure. He says he “never got a phone call” about season 5.
Argyle was introduced in season 4 as Steve’s stoner buddy, and was a presence all throughout the season and its various adventures. Argyle ended the season with the rest of the cast back in Hawkins, and was last seen gathering up mushrooms in town.
But it appears he’ll simply be gone when season 5 starts. I suppose you can sort of understand why a character that was just introduced last season who is essentially entirely comic relief may not be necessary for the final “sprint” in season 5 that serves as the epic conclusion to the series. But to have no one actually sit him down and explain why he wouldn’t be returning is pretty rough, and it seems like he deserves better, no matter what his role was.
There has been almost non-stop pushback against one of the core members of the show, Noah Schnapp who plays Will Byers, who has expressed extreme pro-Israel, anti-Palestine views in the wake of attack in Israel and subsequent war in Gaza, at one point displaying stickers on social media that had phrases like “Zionism is sexy,” which drew fire from some fans. But he has obviously not been cut from season 5, and it’s previously been reported that he’s essentially the lead of the entire last season, alongside Eleven herself. Last season had Byers coming to terms with his sexuality, but season 5 promises a larger arc than that.
As for Franco’s Argyle, there may not be some sort of widespread campaign to get him back in the fold, but we have seen other new characters introduced like Maya Hawke’s Robin or Sadie Sink’s Max be introduced after season 1 and stick around. If you don’t stick around, you’re usually dead, you don’t just…disappear. Who knows, maybe they’ll shoot an Argyle death scene eventually, but for now, it appears he may just evaporate between seasons.
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