'Stranger Things' Honors Another '80s Classic With 'Running Man' Homage Poster

08/31/2017 03:41 pm EDT

Last week, Netflix sensation Stranger Things paid its respects to one of the best horror films of the '80s with a poster that honored A Nightmare on Elm Street. This week, the series honored another staple of '80s sci-fi with a poster mimicking the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring The Running Man.

Strangers Things has both been praised and criticized for how it embraced the spirit of the '80s so wholeheartedly, with some camps loving how many different elements from the decade were incorporated into its tone while others considered those homages to be too gimmicky.

Last week's poster that mimicked A Nightmare on Elm Street featured an image lifted almost directly from the show which mirrored the art for the Wes Craven slasher film. The connection between Stranger Things and The Running Man, however, is a little more tenuous.

In the novel, written by Richard Bachman (the pen name of Stephen King), contestants are forced to participate in a competition that allows them to travel anywhere in the world while a group of killers, known as "Hunters," pursue them unrelentingly. The competition is broadcast into homes around the world, becoming a popular pastime.

The film adaptation is only loosely based on the original concept, limiting the scope of the story by placing contestants in an arena as opposed to being allowed to go anywhere in the world.

"We're big movie nerds — that's what we wanted to do," said Matt Duffer, describing the genesis of the show he created with his brother Ross.

"We started to get into television as it became more cinematic," he added, Variety reports.

The brothers shared that they asked themselves, "what would be the ultimate long movie — Spielberg directing a big, fat Stephen King book. That was the dream, that was the ambition," Ross said.

The second season of Stranger Things comes to Netflix on October 27.

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