'Stranger Things 3': Fan favorite Joe Keery is easy to love, hard to hate as Steve Harrington
“I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but it turns out I’m actually a pretty damn good babysitter."- Steve Harrington
A shitty boyfriend he may be, but he sure did brilliantly as a friend, a brave teen taking on monsters alone, and of course, being a damn good babysitter.
When we first saw Joe Keery's Steve Harrington, we saw a teen who defined style, swag, and some badass attitude. It's not hard to dislike someone like Steve, because while he was pretty much a bit of a showboat, he also had a lot of heart. We first see him as Nancy Wheeler's (Natalia Dyer) boyfriend.
Over the course of the series, he goes on to become the unlikeliest of heroes when he fends off a bunch of monsters and somehow manages to land a couple of one-liners while at it.
Perhaps the only time we felt for Steve was when he was up against a bully like Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) who manages to edge out Steve in basketball and attract the attention from the girls. One of the great things about the show was how it developed characters over the two seasons. Steve goes from being Mr. Popular to a more mature personality. He realizes the value of friendship and discovers a side of him that was never seen in the first season.
Fans rooted more for Steve as season 2 progressed as he thwacked monsters with a spiked baseball bat, all the while hoping that he would not be one of the actors who would perish in the process. Adding to that was the friendship he develops with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and helps him prep for the Snow Ball giving him a pep talk on how to win girls' hearts.
Perhaps the one time fans had a "Go! Stevie!" moment was his fist-fight with Billy, before being brutally maimed. But that didn't stop him as he still hobbled his way to save the kids and bash up a few monsters along the way. Steve's transformation from King Steve to a lovable braveheart was an instant hit with the audiences. Add to it his sense of humor and great acting skills, he's easy to love and hard to hate.
Steve has played a crucial part in saving Hawkins. But come season 3, we're yet to know what he's up to and what he'll be up against. At the moment we know that he's working with Robin (Maya Hawke) at the Starcourt Mall in one of its food courts -- the Scoops Ahoy -- and in one of the trailers, appears bloodied and punched-up.
What fate will befall King Steve, guess we'll know when 'Stranger Things 3' premieres on Netflix on July 4.