'Paper Girls' stars say they are 'honored' by comparisons to 'Stranger Things' but their show doesn't 'glorify the '80s'

• Amazon's "Paper Girls" stars responded to comparisons to "Stranger Things" and "Yellowjackets."
• They said they are "honored" by the comparisons but their show has elements that make it "unique."

Amazon Prime Video's "Paper Girls" stars Riley Lai Nelet, Camryn Jones, and Fina Strazza told Insider they are honored that their series has already been compared to Netflix's hit show "Stranger Things."

The new show, based on a comic book series of the same name, follows four newspaper delivery girls who accidentally get caught up in a time-traveling war. Fans unfamiliar with the comic have made comparisons to "Stranger Things," due to the series' nostalgic '80s setting mixed with sci-fi weirdness, as well as Showtime's "Yellowjackets."

However, the cast of "Paper Girls" told Insider that the series is "unique" for multiple reasons.

Strazza, who plays KJ Brandman, explained to Insider: "I think we are honored to be associated with shows like that and we could only hope for the same feedback, but what our show is doing is highlighting a story that hasn't been told and it has its own unique tone to it when you're watching."

Nelet, who stars as Erica Tieng, said that the show is "its own genre in itself" because of its focus on four young girls.

Jones, who plays Tiffany Quilkin, added: "All of our directors were female and it was just really, really inspiring because the [a lot of] crew was female. It was really cool to have that female driving force in the show and women, especially on set would come up to us and be like, 'This is the show I wish we had when we were younger.' And that touched me."

Strazza also said that the series does not "glorify the '80s," which is common with a lot of shows set in the past.

"We're all already aware of the intense hatred that clawed over the '80s," Strazza said. "But I think it became much more apparent to the four of us because we don't focus on just the patterns on the clothing or the fun hair or the great music. We talk about the sexism and the racism and the homophobia and how a lot of people were not allowed to fit in and it was a very enlightening experience for us."

She added: "Hopefully that will be enlightening for other people who are familiar with '80s media because people tend to romanticize it a lot, so I hope that shines through."

During San Diego Comic-Con, Brian K. Vaughan, one of the creators of "Paper Girls" comics, said that the show is a "death threat" to the '80s rather than a love letter, reported Entertainment Weekly.

"We watched a lot of fiction that views the '80s through rose-colored glasses," Vaughn said during the show's panel. "But Cliff [Chiang, the other creator] and I lived through the '80s, and it wasn't always so awesome. So we wanted to do something that was anti-nostalgic, that was about recognizing we've actually made a lot of progress and it's worth pushing forward and looking ahead, not constantly dwelling in the past."

"Paper Girls" premieres on Prime Video on Friday.