Stranger Things Season 5: How the show made its cast look a decade younger - Explained

Do you know how Stranger Things brings back its young characters in Season 5? Here’s how Netflix uses digital de-ageing to recreate scenes from earlier years.

The much-anticipated series, Stranger Things Season 5: Volume 1, is now streaming on Netflix, bringing the long-running series back for its final arc. Directed by the Duffer Brothers, the new season casts Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, Jamie Campbell Bower and David Harbour in a story that continues directly after the events of Season 4.

Stranger Things Season 5 Vol. 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

By MD Ijaj Khan

Ijaj Khan is a technology journalist and Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times, with over three years of experience covering the consumer technology industry. His work spans smartphones, laptops, wearables, gaming, appliances and AI - from hands-on reviews, comparison and buying guides to breaking news and in-depth features that help readers cut through the noise and make informed decisions. Before joining HT Tech, he worked with Jagran New Media, where he sharpened his instincts for fast-paced digital reporting. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in English Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi. Whether he's testing the latest flagship smartphone, tracking a major AI announcement, or putting a gaming laptop through its paces, Ijaj approaches every story with the same goal - making technology feel relevant and easy to understand for everyday users, not just enthusiasts. When he's not in front of a screen for work, he's usually travelling to a new city, hunting for great food, or keeping tabs on what's next in tech before everyone else catches on.

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The season opens with familiar characters facing new threats, but it also revisits key moments from earlier years. These flashbacks required a major technical shift behind the scenes: Netflix has used digital de-ageing to recreate younger versions of several actors. Let’s take a look at what it is and how the ageing tech actually works.

Why the Show Needed De-Ageing

The series premiered over nine years ago, and its young cast has grown into adulthood. To recreate scenes from Season 1, the production team had to make the actors look a decade younger. A preview clip highlights this challenge through Noah Schnapp’s character, Will Byers, who retells his experience in the Upside Down from his own point of view. Schnapp is now 21, but the scene required him to appear 10 or 11.

Producers solved this by using a stand-in. Young actor Luke Kotokek performed the scene during filming, and VFX studio Lola later replaced his face with a digitally younger version of Schnapp. The dark atmosphere of the Upside Down helped integrate the effect. Millie Bobby Brown underwent the same process in Season 4, when Martie Blair served as her stand-in for similar flashback scenes.

Season 5 may include more such moments as the story revisits earlier events, though Netflix has not confirmed which actors will receive additional de-ageing work.

How De-Ageing Became a Common Film Technique

Hollywood started using digital de-ageing nearly two decades ago. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) used it to make Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen appear younger. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) expanded the method through full CGI facial mapping to adjust Brad Pitt’s age across multiple timelines.

Marvel later adopted the technique at scale. Lola VFX de-aged Samuel L. Jackson by about 25 years for Captain Marvel (2019), without the use of body doubles for most scenes. The studio also created younger versions of Michael Douglas in Ant-Man and applied similar work in Captain America: The First Avenger for the early portrayal of Steve Rogers.

What Digital De-Ageing Actually Does

De-ageing uses CGI, compositing, and AI to adjust an actor’s face frame-by-frame. Artists smooth skin, remove wrinkles, change proportions and match lighting so the performance still feels natural. The process differs from makeup, which cannot alter fine movements or large age gaps. Digital tools allow precise changes while preserving the actor’s expressions.