While joining Netflix’s Stranger Things nearly a decade ago, Winona Ryder asked the Duffer brothers to allow her a break from the series to shoot Beetlejuice 2.
Winona Ryder took a major leap of faith when she first signed on to join the cast of «Stranger Things» a decade ago. Given the script for the show’s pilot episode by creators Matt and Ross Duffer, the star actress had her doubts. A growing platform with less than a third of its current subscriber list, Netflix presented several risks for the longtime star. One major question was how her role as Joyce Byers, the determined matriarch at the head of Stranger Things’ band of teenagers, would conflict with Ryder’s return to one of her most beloved characters, Lydia Deetz in «Beetlejuice.» According to an interview the former childhood star gave to Harper’s BAZAAR, the only caveat Ryder gave to the Duffer brothers before joining the «Stranger Things» cast was simple: they had to leave room for a «Beetlejuice» sequel should one arise. Incredibly, Ryder would get the best of both worlds, reprising her beloved character 36 years later in Tim Burton’s 2024 box office smash hit «Beetlejuice Beetlejuice» while starring in the hit show for over a decade.
When Stranger Things’ latest season hit Netflix in November 2025, it kicked off one of the most highly anticipated final seasons in the streamer’s history. With eight episodes released across three volumes, the show is a master class in maximizing fan excitement. Attracting 59.6 million viewers in its first week — and causing the streamer to briefly crash on its record-breaking opening day– fans were eager to see what the Duffer brothers had cooked up after three and a half year hiatus. Replete with big budgets, heart-stopping cliff hangers, and an unignorably older cast, the show has garnered mostly positive reviews thus far, with fans highly anticipating its next two installments.On one condition.
Few actresses have had as storied a career as Winona Ryder, who snagged her role in the streaming sensation roughly 30 years after her film debut. Despite her historic career, in which she’s played everything from scream queens to romantic leads, the actress said in an interview with Harper’s BAZAAR that the show’s prolonged length constituted a career first. «I am literally on my 10th year playing her», said the actress of her role as Joyce Byers, «It’s an absolute first for me to play a character for that long.» What few fans may not realize, however, is how big the would-be sensation was at the time she signed on. According to Ryder, «It was huge to say yes to just one episode . they only gave me the pilot episode. I didn’t at the time know what streaming was. It was terrifying in that regard.»
One of the biggest questions was whether the streaming hit would stand in the way of Ryder returning as Lydia Deetz. As Ryder said in the aforementioned 2024 interview, «At the time, Tim [Burton] and I were talking about the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel. There have been moments over the last 15 years where we thought it was going to happen, but that’s the thing . it had to be perfect with everybody in order for it to happen. I remember at my first meeting with the Duffer Bros. I said, ‘As long as if «Beetlejuice 2″ happens you’ll let me go do that.’ They agreed. Luckily it worked out. That was my one condition.» Fortunately for Ryder-stans, the filming schedules of the star’s two roles never conflicted. In fact, Ryder filmed «Beetlejuice Beetlejuice» while «Stranger Things» was on a filming break, allowing her to return to the most anticipated shows of 2025.Worth the wait?
Released in 2024, the film grossed over $450 million at the global box office, sparking speculation that the juice might get loose for a third installment. In April 2025, Warner Bros Pictures head Mike De Luca told Deadline that the studio was «imminently» developing a follow-up to the sequel. Although the news reportedly came as a surprise to director Tim Burton, the director joked to The Hollywood Reporter that the studio will need to reduce the 36-year gap this time around, noting, «Well, if [the same] time frame goes on, I’ll be about 100. So maybe. I doubt it.» Whether Lydia Deetz will be at the center of the installment, or if the franchise will shift its gaze towards Jenna Ortega, who plays Ryder’s daughter in the second film, remains to be seen.
Fans of Ryder’s Stranger Things faced a similarly agonizing, though less prolonged, wait to discover the fate of their favorite paranormal-attuned teens. When Netflix released the first four episodes on November 26, 2025, it was the most streamed English-language event in the company’s history, falling just behind Squid Games’ controversial third season. Reviews have been mostly positive, although critics have noted that the show, and its actors, are beginning to grow out of its format of teen hijinks. But with longer run times, gargantuan budgets, and a litany of thrilling set pieces, fans will be on the edge of their seats as they anticipate the grand finale. With the next three episodes dropping on Christmas, and a grand New Year’s Eve finale, Netflix hopes to send off its ten-year phenomenon with a bang.

Honda still sits at the top as one of the best motorcycle brands on the market, but these models from the 1980s can still be appreciated today.
The ’80s was a transformative decade for the international renown of Honda as a motorcycle brand and, more broadly, a racing powerhouse. The decade opened with the introduction of the Honda Tact in 1980, and while it’s a motor scooter rather than a motorcycle in a technical sense, it highlighted something very important: the Japanese giant was looking to expand into all sectors of the two-wheeled market. That very year, Japan was the biggest auto manufacturer in the world, and Honda’s expansion would be a critical part of that. It was quite fast during this decade, too: In 1981, Honda Manufacturing Nigeria began operations, following its incorporation in 1979. Before the decade was out, the brand would also begin manufacturing motorcycles in India (1985) and Mexico (1988) too.
In 1982, the Honda Racing Corporation was established, which underscored the fact that motorcycle racing would be a big priority for the company going forward. All of this makes plain that the ’80s started with a statement of intent from the company: This would be an enormous decade for Honda motorcycles. In 1984, the brand marked 50 million motorcycles manufactured around the world. In 2025, that number became 500 million, which demonstrates that Honda has barely removed its foot from the gas ever since in that regard.
Nonetheless, a lot of enthusiasts have a special place in their hearts for Honda’s motorcycle output from the ’80s, which includes some world-renowned models and some particularly valuable collector’s items. Here are some of the most acclaimed bikes the company made during this crucial period, and how enthusiasts can still appreciate them today. Honda has made some very successful motorcycles, and some of them date back to this very special era for the company.The VF750 Sabre
With any piece of technology, whether it’s a tablet or a motorcycle, it’s a tremendous boon to be the very first to incorporate something new. That’s how you turn heads and ultimately make sales. In the case of 1982s VF750 Sabre, the headline feature was something very special: Its V4 engine. It was the first model to incorporate Honda’s new V4, and indeed the very first production model ever to boast a liquid-cooled one. This 750cc powertrain was particularly innovative in its double-camshaft setup and the implementation of the Overdrive gear. The VF750 Sabre and its counterpart, the Magna, shared this engine. This fact, needless to say, had some important implications for the models’ performance, along with other technical additions.
The Sabre and Magna weren’t just a case of showing off an elaborate and powerful new engine, though. According to Honda, «the Sabre, in particular, incorporated every conceivable new technology available at the time, from the engine to the chassis.» It was, then, an advanced model with some sophisticated features for its time, which included some truly impressive equipment.
In July 1982, Cycle World magazine went as far as to say that «the Sabre’s instrumentation is as close to Houston Control, or maybe the local video arcade, as a motorcycle can get.» It’s fully equipped with a range of advanced warnings and sensors for the rider, such as LCD displays demonstrating a range of different factors and alerting the driver to any issues. A sophisticated model, Honda continued to develop the Sabre family, but it was only manufactured until the 1985 model year. The V65 engine of the 1985 Sabre gave it a zero-to-50 mph of 2.31 seconds, on top of 121 horsepower. It was a 1,100cc engine, rather than the original 750 cc, which offered 83 horsepower.Honda Gold Wing GL1100
It was also important for Honda to diversify its lineup in the United States. After all, motorcycles come in a wide array of types. Riders, then, naturally want a model that best suits their driving habits and so on. This is where the Honda Gold Wing GL1100 comes in. It’s not a sleek and speedy racer, and nor is it designed to be. This addition to the Gold Wing lineup was introduced in 1980, and like the debut model, the 1975 Gold Wing, had been primarily created for the U.S. market. Manufacture was actually moved to the United States with the 1980 model. The family is well known for being the first Japanese production model to sport its 1085-cc engine.
This is a vehicle not for track racers, but for long-distance riders. Tourers are all about comfort for spending a long time in the saddle, and this decade would also see two further additions to the line: The Gold Wing GL1200 Aspencade in 1984 and 1988’s Gold Wing GL1500. The latter would be the first in the line to be imported from the United States back to Japan.
The Gold Wing family would take a hiatus after the 1988 model’s release, but it would return after more than a decade in the shape of the 2001 Gold Wing, which this time offered a 1800 cc engine. Safety, stability, and performance over long drives was the focus with the Gold Wing family, and this was evident as it evolved. 2007s model marked a huge world first: It boasted an airbag, inflated by nitrogen in 0.6 seconds when needed, and intended to slow a rider’s momentum in the event of an accident. The last model was the double-wishbone Golden Wing Tour, which made its appearance in 2018.RC30 VFR750R
Each era has racing machines that define it. In the realm of motorcycles in the ’80s, Honda’s RC30 VFR750R is one excellent example. While the Gold Wing family was designed as comfortable, roomy, capable tourers, the RC30 VFR750R was an entirely different beast. It was designed to be a competitive racer, and it was well-equipped for the job. Approximately 150 mph was quite the dazzling pace for a motorcycle to hit in 1989, and it required a 748cc engine, another V4, to do so.
It was inevitable that it would be a force to reckon with against the competition of the time. In 1993, it attained even more cachet in the eyes of enthusiasts when Helmut Daehne piloted the model at the Nürburgring Nordschleife to a lap time of 7:49.71. The World Superbike Championship began in 1988, and the brand that could unleash a model that would get an excellent start in it would surely turn heads. The RC30, sure enough, would win the ’88 and ’89 race.
Being the monstrously successful classic it is, it’s little surprise that the RC30 has simply rocketed in value as time has gone on. The model retailed for £8499, with Hagerty noting that the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade had a pricetag of £23,499 (approximately $31,456) in 2022. Just 5,000 of the U.S. model, the RC30, were made available, and so the model’s legendary status and its rarity combined to make it still worth an incredible premium: Iconic Auctioneers reports that a May 2022 auction for an «as new» 1990 RC30 «displaying just two ‘push kilometers'» hit £65,250, or around $87,345. That’s quite the price to pay for a motorcycle that is, at the time of writing, approaching 40 years old. The pedigree that Honda was hoping to establish in the racing world, then, clearly came to fruition. XRV650 Africa Twin
New motorcycle models aren’t necessarily brand-new designs. Between model years, in particular, there’s a lot of scope for long-running brands like Honda to capitalize on a design, a chassis, an engine, or so on and make adjustments and improvements where practical. Completely transforming a bike that already has a lot of fans is a risky move, and Honda’s NXR750 certainly had its admirers during the ’80s.
This racing legend won the grueling Paris-Dakar race in 1986, and continued to do so until the end of the decade. What Honda then wanted was a version of it that enthusiasts could buy and actually drive on the road. The bike that would come in 1988, in the shape of the XRV650 Africa Twin, wasn’t exactly that, but the inspiration of the model was plain in its appearance. This first model wasn’t officially sold in the United States, which has made it even more of a desirable rarity stateside.
To develop it, the Honda Transalp’s V-twin engine, with a 647 cc adjustment, was included. The XL600V Transalp itself was released the year of that first win at the Paris-Dakar, and was touted by Honda as «the right size all-rounder that can go anywhere from everyday life to round the world.» It’s fitting, then, that it and the NXR750, two models known for versatile touring performance across a range of terrains, would be instrumental in the creation of the first Africa Twin. First in the family to launch in the U.S. was the CRF1000L Africa Twin in 2016. It was a very different beast, but the renown of the XRV650 Africa Twin remains. In a March 2021 auction from Bring A Trailer, a 1988 model in excellent condition with a reported 3 kilometers under its belt, sold for $37,000.