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  1. Entertainment
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Stranger Things creators say they've known the final scene for "six or seven years," and "always knew what the last 40 minutes were going to be"

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By George Marston published 31 October 2025

The Duffer brothers have been working toward the ending of Stranger Things for years

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The kids of Hawkins, Indiana riding their bikes in a promo image for Stranger Things season 5
(Image credit: Netflix)
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The start of Stranger Things season 5 is just around the corner, and though it's taken nearly 10 years to get here, the show's creators Ross and Matt Duffer say they've known how the series would end for nearly as long.

Speaking in a panel at Italy's Lucca Comics and Games Festival (via Variety) alongside Stranger Things cast members Gaten Matarazzo (who plays Dustin Henderson), Noah Schnapp (the actor behind Will Byers), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), the Duffers reminisced about planning the ending of the show, which they came up with years ago.

"Obviously, it's stressful trying to figure out how you want to end the show," Ross Duffer explains. "Luckily, it was about six or seven years ago that we knew at least what the final scene is. We always knew what the last 40 minutes were going to be."

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  • (L to R) Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, and Noah Schnapp as Will Byers in Stranger Things 5. Stranger Things co-creator cryptically teases season 5 part 2: "It's gonna be a long six day wait for the finale"

The Duffers previously explained how they've drawn on some of the best TV finales of all time to craft their big ending, aiming for a big emotional impact that will leave audiences feeling satisfied.

"You are having to let go in a way and say goodbye," co-creator Matt Duffer tells the panel. "So we weren't thinking about that too much when we were writing that final episode. But once we read it through with [the actors], we realized how much it reflected our own experience. And hopefully that emotion that we felt writing it – and our actors felt performing it – is going to come through to the audience."

Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1, arrives this November 26, with volumes 2 and 3 following soon after on December 25 and December 31. Until then, check out our guide to the best shows on Netflix.


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George Marston
George Marston
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Entertainment Writer

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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