Sometimes you just have to call bullshit twice.
Just two days after dropping a statement in which they called the ripoff claims against Stranger Things "completely meritless," the Duffer brothers have reportedly backed it all up with some simple evidence. According toTMZ, emails between Matt and Ross Duffer and Charlie Kessler show that Stranger Things (under the Montauk working title) was already in development way back in November 2010. As you'll recall, Kessler claimed that the Duffer brothers met with him in 2014 and later used his ideas to create Netflix's biggest hit.
Other documents, including emails and a Google Doc, reportedly show discussions of a "gritty eighties"-influenced series and the Montauk experiments. A 2013 doc is alleged to show the beginning stages of what would later become Will's character arc. A Duffer attorney said Friday that these documents prove that Kessler was not in any way involved with the creation of the series, as the brothers were working on Stranger Things in various forms prior to Kessler's claimed meeting.
In their joint statement earlier this week, the Duffer team said Kessler was just trying to make some money off "other people's creativity." One day earlier, Kessler filed a plagiarism suit in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Anyway, savor all things Stranger in the years ahead. I'm inclined to believe that the Duffers will indeed make good on their publicly pondered idea of making the series a concise four-season story. After all, leaving on a high note would seal the deal in terms of the show's classic status.
