Like me, Maya Hawke loves her Stranger Things co-star Joe Keery. She loves him so much, in fact, that she’d even be open to continuing the stories of their characters Robin Buckley and Steve Harrington after the series ends next season.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Maya talked about her new folk album Moss — releasing on Friday, September 23 — and all things Stranger. When asked how she feels about possible major character deaths in the Netflix show’s upcoming fifth and final season, Maya shared that she’d actually “love” for her fan-favorite character Robin to die.
“Well, it’s the last season, so people are probably going to die. I would love to die and get my hero’s moment,” said Maya. “I’d love to die with honor, as any actor would.”
Back in May ahead of Stranger Things 4‘s premiere, Millie Bobby Brown referenced the return of Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) and jokingly called show creators the Duffer Brothers “two sensitive Sallies that don’t want to kill anyone off.” While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast shortly after, the Duffer Bros. defended their caution to kill off major characters. “She’s hilarious… We aren’t Game of Thrones. This is Hawkins, it’s not Westeros. The show becomes not Stranger Things anymore because you do have to treat it realistically, right?’”
“I love the way that the Duffer Brothers love their actors,” Maya said to Rolling Stone, ultimately agreeing with the showrunners. “The reason that they write so beautifully for me and for everyone else is because they fall in love with their actors and their characters, and they don’t want to kill them. I think that’s a beautiful quality that they have, and I wouldn’t wish it away.”
If Robin doesn’t die in Stranger Things 5, we have some good news for Robin and Steve fans… Maya is absolutely down for a potential buddy, dramedy spin-off. She even came up with a silly — but kind of amazing? — premise for their show: audiences follow besties Robin and Steve to New York City in the 1990s, where they spend their time coming of age in a non-supernatural world, “partying in the clubs and figuring [their] sh*t out.” Immediately, yes.
“Normally I wouldn’t really be a proponent of a spinoff, but if I got to do it with Joe Keery, I would do anything,” said Maya. “He’s so funny and wonderful and smart, and he’s got great boundaries. He’s an excellent coworker, and I would do anything with him.”
Maya also spoke about Robin and Steve’s friendship and whether she personally ships Steve with Nancy (portrayed by Natalia Dyer). “I think that Robin’s definitely shipping Steve and Nancy. I think that Robin definitely wants whatever would make Steve the happiest, which appears to certainly be Nancy,” she said. “I personally think that the thing that’s so beautiful about the show: it actually has never really been about romance. People are always shipping characters in that show, but really that show’s about friendship.”