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Stranger Things 2 Panel Turns San Diego Comic-Con Upside Down

Get ready to head back to the Upside Down

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Alexander Zalben

It's fair to say Netflix's throwback sci-fi series Stranger Things took everyone by surprise. The nostalgia heavy show seemed to grow and grow for the weeks after release, eventually turning its young stars into global sensations. With anticipation for the October 27 debuting sequel at an all time high, the cast and crew of the show headed to San Diego Comic-Con's enormous Hall H to tease the secretive sequel -- and we've got everything you need to know about their return to Hawkins, Indiana.

In attendance were show creators The Duffer Brothers, as well as returning cast Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), David Harbour (Chief Hopper), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), and Joe Keery (Steve Harrington).

Joining them on a stage that almost broke in half from the amount of people seated on it were new cast members: Sean Astin as Bob, a new love interest for Winona Ryder's character Joyce; Paul Reiser as Dr. Owens, taking over for Matthew Modine as the head of the nefarious lab that raised Eleven; and Dacre Montgomery and Sadie Sink, as two mysterious siblings.

Here's all the secrets we learned about Stranger Things 2 at Comic-Con:

Check out all the latest news about San Diego Comic-Con!

1. The Duffer Brothers wanted to do TV because it's more like movies now. "We were big movie nerds, and we started to get into television as it got more cinematic," Matt Duffer told the room, crediting shows like True Detective. They thought about what would be the best "long movie," and decided a Spielberg homage was the way to go.

2. They knew what the title font should be, before they even started. Producer Shawn Levy credited the Duffer Brothers' clarity of vision coming in to the project as the reason Netflix decided to take a chance on the unknown filmmakers, citing that they even knew what they wanted the now iconic title to look like from their first meeting.

3. More Will in Season 2! Will was offscreen most of last season, but from Schnapp we learned that not only will, uh, Will show up more, but he'll be "braver" and we'll learn more about how the Upside Down affected him.

4. Eleven had less lines, but a harder job. Millie Bobby Brown cited the difficulty of acting with a minimal amount of lines -- particularly around "boys who like to play pranks." But ultimately it was about concentrating, and feeling inside what needed to be expressed -- and then letting that come through just with her facial muscles.

5. Hopper may be connecting with Eleven. Harbour stated that his character's arc in Season 2 is definitely "very different" than it was in Season 1, and "it all begins with some Eggos he's leaving in the woods." The actor added that we know he has some daughter issues from Season 1, and that may play out in Season 2. Chances are, Hopper and Eleven are gonna team up, right?

6. Meet the new guys! Dacre Montgomery is playing Billy, Sadie Sink is Max ("a.k.a. Mad Max" quipped Keery), and Paul Reiser is Dr. Owens. Max moves from California, Owens may or may not be evil (though he's definitely brought in to "clean up Dr. Brenner's mess")... And that's all the info we got on the new folks. This show is a big secret!

7. The new trailer dropped! The new trailer showed off bigger monsters, Halloween costumes, some Michael Jackson music -- and Eleven is back! You can watch it right here.

8. No, Barb is not coming back. The first audience question was from -- surprise! -- Shannon Purser, who played fan-favorite Barb on the show. She asked if Barb was coming back for Season 2, which was, sadly, a resounding "no." That said, Season 2 will deal with Barb's death, and give us some #Justice4Barb. "She will be avenged," swear the Duffer Brothers.

Stranger Things returns for Season 2 on Friday, Oct. 27 on Netflix.