As “Stranger Things” prepares to close the book on Hawkins, Indiana with its fifth and final season, creators Matt and Ross Duffer are already looking ahead to what comes next—and it’s not what you might expect. The brothers have made it clear that their planned spinoff series will chart entirely new territory, eschewing the interconnected universe approach popularized by franchises like “Star Wars” in favor of something altogether different.
A Complete Story, Fully Told
For Season 5, the Duffers wanted absolute closure. “We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters,” Matt Duffer explained in interviews for Variety’s October 15 cover story. “This is a complete story. It’s done.”
That definitive statement makes their spinoff plans—first announced in summer 2022 after the release of “Stranger Things 4″—all the more intriguing. Whatever this new series becomes, it won’t continue any existing character’s journey, nor will it expand the show’s mythology in the way “Star Wars” TV series have been doing on Disney+.
Why ‘Stranger Things’ Isn’t Like ‘Star Wars’
“It’s so different than something like ‘Star Wars,'” Matt said. “It doesn’t really work like that.” Instead, the spinoff will embrace the show’s “brand” and “style of storytelling”—focusing on “kids, adventures, sci-fi/fantasy, rather than increasingly expand what could become an insanely convoluted mythology.”
Ross elaborated on their approach to the main spinoff and any potential future projects: “They’re going to live in a bit of a different world. There’s going to be connective tissue, but you’re almost anthologizing in a way. Because we’re not ‘Star Wars.’ We can’t be like, ‘Oh, now we’re on this planet.'”
“You’re just too boxed in,” Matt added. “It starts to get frustrating from a storytelling perspective.”
The Joy of Starting Fresh
The Duffers have been developing the spinoff alongside their work on “Stranger Things 5,” and the creative process “has been so fun,” Matt revealed. “You’re starting with new characters—it’s like clean slate. You’re not tied up into any knots. There’s something refreshing about it.”
“The hope is you’re not just doing something to just do it,” he continued. “And Netflix has been surprisingly patient, although I think now, I feel that patience wearing thin a little bit with the show coming to an end. But they’re understanding.”
While the brothers will create the spinoff series and remain “heavily creatively involved,” Ross said, “helping shepherd it along”—they won’t serve as showrunners as they launch their next chapter as filmmakers under their new Paramount deal. “We’ll, hopefully, be writing and directing something new in the meantime.”
Netflix’s Excitement and Patience
When asked about the spinoff, Netflix’s chief creative officer Bela Bajaria jumped in to ask, “Ooh, what did they say?” She acknowledged that the Duffers want to “do the show and title justice,” emphasizing “it’s not just the idea of doing another one.”
“They’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Bajaria said. “So I’m excited about what it’s going to be, but I don’t know what that is yet!”
The Duffers have kept the spinoff concept under wraps. While there’s no official timeline, Bajaria said with a laugh, “I’d always love more ‘Stranger Things.’ When they’re ready, we’ll be ready.”
‘Tales From ’85’: Keeping the Kids Young Forever
Netflix and the Duffers are already expanding the “Stranger Things” world through another avenue: the animated series “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.” Developed by showrunner Eric Robles (creator of Nickelodeon’s “Fanboy & Chum Chum”), the series was presented at the Annecy Animation Festival in June.
The animation project was the Duffers’ idea, Matt explained, “because we grew up loving some of the cartoons that were based on movies that we love, like ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Ghostbusters.'” They envisioned capturing the “throwback” spirit of those shows “in a more modern way”—mirroring the live-action series’ homage to 1980s Steven Spielberg and Stephen King films.
The show has no release date yet, but the Duffers had seen one complete episode at the time of the interview. Robles “knocked it out of the park,” Matt said. “It really feels like the show.” The animation style resembles Netflix’s Emmy-winning series “Arcane,” but “not as expensive as ‘Arcane,'” Ross added.
“And it’s nice, because the kids can stay young forever,” Matt said. “We set it when they’re that perfect Season 2 age.”
The Extended Life of ‘Stranger Things’
Should “Tales from ’85” or the spinoff series prove successful, “Stranger Things” could maintain a presence on Netflix for years to come.
Shawn Levy, an executive producer and director of the original series, will also participate in future projects. “I’m excited to extend the storytelling life of ‘Stranger Things’—I’m not going to call it a ‘universe,’ because that would be obnoxious,” he said, pausing. “The ‘STU’? Too soon? Shit, I know you’re going to use that!”
What this extended world will be called remains up for debate. “What do you call it that’s not lame—a universe? A franchise?” Matt asked rhetorically. “We need something else.”
“The ‘Strangerverse’?” Ross suggested. “I don’t know.”
Whatever they decide to call it, one thing is certain: the world of “Stranger Things” isn’t ending—it’s just getting a fresh start.
