Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, and actress Linnea Berthelsen join the Netflix phenom's second season

Stranger Things type TV Show network Netflix

Let’s face it: We all miss the folks of Hawkins, Indiana. So, thankfully, Stranger Things 2 is about to start production (!) and EW has some exclusive new details on season 2.

The Netflix series, created by Ross and Matt Duffer, is adding three new characters, including someone who kind of sounds like the next Eleven. And two of the actors have very important connections to genre films influenced by the Duffers.

Danish actress Linnea Berthelsen has been cast as Roman. Per Netflix, she’s “an emotionally damaged, magnetic young woman who suffered a great loss as a child. Although she does not live in Hawkins, she is mysteriously connected to the supernatural events at the lab…”

EW Analysis: Does she like toasted breakfast pastries too? We predict that she has a lot of qualities in common with a certain young lady who favors a buzz-cut accessorized with a nose bleed.

Sean Astin (The Goonies, Lord of the Rings trilogy) will play Bob Newby, “a kindhearted former nerd who went to high school with Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) and now manages the local Hawkins RadioShack.”

EW Analysis: Given how much these kids love a radio and gadgets, I wonder if the local RadioShack will come into play? The casting of Astin, who played Goonies leader Mikey in the iconic film, may be the biggest nod yet the Duffers have given to the 1985 movie which inspired Things.

Paul Reiser (Aliens, Whiplash) has been cast as Dr. Owens, “a high-ranking member within the Department of Energy on a ‘clean-up’ assignment, tasked with containing the events of last year.”

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Stranger Things 2 will debut on Netflix in 2017.