Stranger Things originally planned to kill off Max permanently in season 4

8 January 2024, 16:02 | Updated: 7 December 2025, 17:04

Stranger Things 4: Max died for real in the first draft of the script. Picture: Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

The idea of putting Max in a coma actually came about during the 6 month pandemic delay, and the proposed ending was changed.

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If you've watched Stranger Things 5, then you'll already know what's going on with our beloved zoomer and Kate Bush stan Max following her "death" at the hands of Vecna at the end of season 4.

Season 5 finds Max still in a coma, 18 months after the events of season 4. But while she's unresponsive in the real world, her conscious is alive within Vecna's mind.

In episode 4, we find out exactly how important Max's role in season 5 is. It's revealed that Holly Wheeler is also now trapped in Vecna's mind—which she refers to as Camazotz from A Wrinkle in Time—after being kidnapped. The duo are now working together to try and escape.

Shortly after season 4 aired, creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed Max's coma was set to play a huge part in the finale season before revealing that Max was actually meant to die for real.

Read more: Stranger Things 5 finale episode runtime confirmed
Read more: Stranger Things 5 theory explains how Eleven, Will and Kali will defeat Vecna

Is Max actually dead in Stranger Things?

Max ended up being 'killed' by Vecna at the end of season 4, but Eleven managed to save her. Picture: Alamy

Speaking on Netflix Geeked's Unlocked after season 4 aired back in 2022, the Duffer brothers revealed that Max's coma was not something they had planned to include at first. In fact, it came about as a result of the delay caused by the pandemic.

When asked by host Felicia Day if "there was any possibility that [Max] was going to die permanently," the Duffer brothers dropped a bombshell.

"It was discussed, it was discussed as a possibility. And for a while, that is what was going to happen," Ross Duffer confirmed.

Ultimately though, the brothers decided to end Max's season 4 storyline on "more of a question mark," with her fate hanging in the balance. The reason for that? "We wanted to leave it a little bit up in the air moving forward into season 5."

Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2: Unlocked | FULL SPOILERS Official After Show | Netflix Geeked

Matt Duffer then revealed that the idea of putting Max in a coma actually came about during the six month pandemic delay, once they figured out how it would play into season 5's storyline.

"The other thing about the coma, that idea that came as we were also in this extra half year that we had," Matt said at the time. "We went and broke season 5. So season 5, and the fact that she's in the coma. I can't really get into the details but it is important that she is. And that is going to have a major effect on 5."

Of course, we now know that Max is set to play a key part in helping the kids of Hawkins (including Holly) who have been taken by Vecna and are currently hidden behind the big wall in the Upside Down.

In the remaining episodes, it looks likely that Max and Holly will work together to try and escape once and for all.

Not only that, but Max has been living through Vecna/Henry Creel's past bad memories so we'll be finding out more about him through Max too—including plot details from Broadway and West End play The First Shadow.

Stranger Things 5: Max's coma will be very important to the storyline. Picture: Netflix

Speaking about working on season 5 and Max's story ahead of the premiere, Sadie told Variety: "I knew that if they were keeping her around, it was for a reason. They would have just killed her off if she was useless. So I knew something was in store for her."

"I really liked seeing her in that environment, which is just so foreign from everything we’ve seen her in before," Sadie continued. "And it was definitely like, I missed my friends, but it was still really fun to get to work with Nell and Jamie."