Shawn Levy Says A Scarier 'Stranger Things' Season 2 Has "The Best Heart"

Stranger Things season 2 has been called bigger, more ambitious, and scarier. There aren't too many scares in season one, as I recall, but producer Shawn Levy says parts of the new season are going to make "the Demogorgon look quaint." Matt and Ross Duffer's Netflix series also isn't going to give into fan service, like bringing back a dead character because she's beloved on the Internet.

Below, learn more about Stranger Things season two.

The makers of the show have said time and time again season 2 is going to take a darker turn. All is not going to be well for Will Byers (Noah Schnapps), for example. "Something happens to Will in the first couple of episodes that's very, very disturbing," Finn Wolfhard (Mike) said. After spending time in the Upside Down world, he returned to his family and friends with a few side effects.

Levy told THR on Facebook Live season 2 is scarier but it has "the best heart":

Season two makes the Demogorgon look quaint. I was just in the edit room with the brothers yesterday, and we're like, "this is definitely darker, I hope everyone's down with this," because the threats to Hawkins and to our characters are bigger, darker, often times scarier. So people who found season one too scary for them, probably you're going to be more scared by season two. But again, the best thing I can tell you is that through it all, it's got the best heart. But it is, cinematically and budgetary, it's definitely more ambitious.

The Real Steel director also echoed some of actor David Harbour's previous comments regarding the upcoming season. The next Hellboy star has said they're taking "a lot of risks" and "people are going to be pissed off by things." Levy said the Duffer Brothers are more than okay with not delivering what fans think they want:

We are going to do things that fans will be disappointed in, but I think they will be more satisfied by... I'll give one example that I've been asked about a hundred times which is people still think Barb's alive. Because you think you want that, but you wouldn't really want that. I've had a lot of people, some huge celebrities come up to me at these awards shows, like, "So, between us, Barb's coming back, right?" I'm like "No, you saw, she had like a creature, slug, worm, snake, coming out of her mouth. I don't know that there's a bounce back from that!" So no, we are not going to cravenly service the wish-list of fans, we're going to service the Duffer instincts and what they feel is the right story to tell.

Barb's death could not have been more certain in season 1 and Levy's right – the last thing real fans would want is a ridiculous cheat to bring the character back. As passionate as Stranger Things fans are, it's refreshing to hear the Duffer Brothers and all involved are okay if the story they want to tell frustrates viewers. After all, fan service is disappointing, more often than not.

Stranger Things season 2 debuts on Netflix October 31.