Stranger Things star spoilt ending of season four back in 2016 – but nobody knew

Like most series of its size, Stranger Things goes to lengths to make sure all its future storylines are kept tightly under wraps.

Inevitably, however, things get spoiled – whether that’s through leaked reports or prematurely sold board game tie-ins.

But not all spoilers get noticed. Back in 2016, Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo actually gave away the twist ending of the latest batch of episodes – and fans didn’t realise until now.

Spoilers follow for Volume 1 of Stranger Things 4...

In the footage, which has recirculated online following the debut of Stranger Things 4 last month, Matarazzo can be seen addressing fan theories about the show in a group interview.

Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson, said: “Other test subjects, besides Eleven, One through Ten, most of them were dead, but the others were banished to the Upside Down. Like, they couldn’t get out.

“Because they were in the Upside Down for so long, and you can see that it had an effect on Will, it had an effect on them because they were in it for so long. They transformed into what was the monster. So the monster was a recent test subject.”

Mille Bobby Brown can then be heard gasping at the end of the clip.

In the comments, viewers speculated about the clip, with some suggesting that the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, had been inspired by the fan theory.

“That one fan who came up with this theory must be grinning real good right now,” one person wrote.

“Guys, he was talking about his favourite fan theory. It’s either the creators took notes from it or just a coincidence,” another wrote.

“It wasn’t a spoiler, it just that Gaten is a genius,” someone else avered.

Stranger Things can be streamed on Netflix.

The creators of Stranger Things recently revealed that the forthcoming fifth season will take place after a substantial time jump.

Fans have also spotted a number of hidden details in the latest batch of episodes after Volume 1 of Stranger Things 4 dropped last month.

The first episode of the season contained an emotional Easter egg surrounding the characters of of Max, played by Sadie Sink, and her brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who died in season three.

However, one popular Easter egg actually came as a surprise to the show’s writers, who apologised after they failed to spot one key detail about the show’s timeline.

Actor Jamie Campbell Bower revealed that he left co-star Millie Bobby Brown “in tears” because he was “so scary” on set, in character as the young Henry Creel.