Stranger Things Season 5 Likely Won't Bring This Controversial Character Back

It's been nearly two years since a new episode of "Stranger Things" was released, but fans are finally starting to receive updates about the show's final season. The principal photography phase of "Stranger Things" Season 5 was originally supposed to begin in the summer of 2023, but last year's WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes delayed production for several months. Fortunately, filming is finally underway, and with its commencement has come a surprising confirmation about one "Stranger Things" Season 4 cast member who won't be reprising his role in the show's next batch of episodes.

During an interview with Steve Varley, actor Eduardo Franco revealed that he has not yet received a phone call from Netflix or "Stranger Things" co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer about reprising his role as Argyle. "It's nice to hear that there's some sort of concern or something, but I never got a phone call, so I think that's it," Franco said when asked about his "Stranger Things" future. The actor's comment may come as a surprise to some fans, especially considering where Argyle was and what he was doing when viewers last saw him.

Despite being introduced as nothing more than an often-stoned pizza delivery driver, Argyle emerges throughout "Stranger Things" Season 4 as one of the Byers family's closest allies. Given that he not only survives the events of the season but also ends up in Hawkins with the rest of the show's heroes, viewers could be forgiven for assuming that he was definitely going to return at some point in the future. However, it looks like that won't be the case after all.

Some "Stranger Things" fans won't be unhappy to hear about Argyle's purported absence from the show's final season. In the wake of "Stranger Things" Season 4's two-part release, the character was heavily criticized by some fans, and that fact was noted online by several of their fellow viewers. That said, it's unlikely that the divisive response to his character is responsible for Argyle's exclusion from "Stranger Things" Season 5. In all likelihood, the show's creative team just couldn't find a suitable role for him to play in its remaining episodes.

The Duffer Brothers have, notably, confirmed that "Stranger Things" Season 5 will purposefully feature fewer new characters than the show's past seasons and will revolve largely around its original cast of players. "We're doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5," Matt Duffer told IndieWire in 2022. "We're trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters." Based on the images that have been released from the first few days of "Stranger Things" Season 5's production, it seems like the Duffers have followed through on that promise, too.

Indeed, Linda Hamilton is the only new cast member who has been confirmed to have a role in the highly anticipated "Stranger Things" season. Apart from her, the season's only other actors are set to be performers who have already appeared on the show, including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, and the rest of their longtime "Stranger Things" co-stars. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there was ultimately room in the season for Eduardo Franco's Argyle to be included as well.