‘Stranger Things’ Actress Shannon Purser Wants a Funeral For Barb

Kim Taylor-Foster
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TV

Shannon Purser, the actress who plays Barb in Stranger Things, has told FANDOM that she wants to see a funeral for her much-loved character in Season 2.

Ever since Stranger Things Season 1 came to an end, fans have been calling for justice for Barb. They’ve taken to social media using the hashtag #JusticeforBarb to campaign for some kind of resolution to Barb’s untimely death – that largely went unmourned.

“It is kind of funny when you think about it,” says Purser. “Like, Season One she goes missing and nobody really seems to be that bothered by it. So, I think a funeral would be great, right? It would be great to have somebody acknowledge that she’s gone.”

While some fans refuse to believe that’s the last they’ll see of the cult character, producer Shawn Levy confirmed in a Facebook Live event that Barb is definitely dead: “I’ve had a lot of people — some huge celebrities come up to me at these awards shows and are like, ‘So between us, Barb’s coming back, right?’ I’m like, ‘No. You saw. She had like a creature-slug-worm-snake coming out of her mouth! I don’t know that there’s a bounce-back from that!?'”

But Levy also confirmed that we will see justice for Barb next season, telling Variety that “her memory and the search for justice for her is a part of season two”.

The ill-fated Barb lost her life in Season 1 to the Demogorgon in the Upside Down, an alternate dimension which exists in parallel to the regular world. But although Levy might insist that she’s dead, Purser didn’t close the door on a return, telling us: “If there was a way to bring her back I think that would be really great.”

Of course, there’s always a way to reintroduce a character – through flashbacks is one option. There’s also the option of a prequel series, so although she may not actively feature in Season 2, further down the line we could theoretically see her come back in an exploration of events prior to the timeline of Season 1. And in a supernatural show such as Stranger Things, of course, there’s also the very feasible opportunity of bringing someone back from the dead in one way or another, whether via an alternate universe type scenario or actual reanimation.

Shannon also shared her thoughts on what she’d like to see in Season 2 beyond Barb’s funeral.

“I think a lot is going to happen and it’s going to be pretty intense,” she says. “I definitely want to see Eleven come back, I’d like to learn a little bit more about her and about the monster and where exactly it all came from. I think it would be really cool to find out exactly what the Upside Down is and how it came to be. And I also, of course, want to know what’s going on with Will. He returns and it seems like a happy ending but we see that he is clearly somehow still connected to the Upside Down. I’d really love to explore that and see what’s going on.”

Wish-Upon_Shannon Purser
Shannon Purser (right) appears in new horror film Wish Upon

You can next see Shannon Purser in ‘Wish Upon’, a brand new horror from ‘Annabelle’ director John R. Leonetti. The film hits screens in the US on July 14 and in the UK on July 28.

‘Stranger Things’ will be back on Netflix this Halloween.

Kim Taylor-Foster
Kim Taylor-Foster is Entertainment Editor for Fandom in the UK. She was raised on an unsteady diet of video nasties and violent action flicks.